


Don't Get Lost Again

by Sparkle0001



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bar, F/M, It's always about money, Sexual Abuse, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 02:40:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 63,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19308970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparkle0001/pseuds/Sparkle0001
Summary: Lucy finds that looking over her shoulder is exhausting and terrifying. She is counting down the years until this is finally over. But in the meantime she needs money and security. When she steps off the train in Magnolia, a small trading town a little out of touch with the rest of the world, she never thought working at a rowdy bar was going to be as big of a headache as it became. How long is Magnolia going to be a secure place?





	1. The First Step

The train whistle blew as it left the station. Lucy felt her heart hammering in her chest as it pulled away. ‘No time to be afraid,’ she thought to herself as she walks out of the station house and down to the street. Magnolia was a large town, big enough to have its own train depot but small enough to still be called a town. Lucy held tightly to her weekender bag as she faded into the hustle and bustle of the street.

  
There was a lot of shouting and noise along the river as fishermen and store owners tried to attract people to their wares. Lucy kept her head down and moved along the edges of the crowd. Spring was in full bloom and it brought out a lot of people, which is just what she was hoping for when she left the last city she was living in. People and noise and sun meant safety and right now that was the only thing on her mind.

  
“And stay out you lousy rat!” a rather portly woman yelled as she threw a man out of an apartment looking building. “Damn boy…” the lady growls. Lucy stops to stare at the scene, “you lookin’ to rent the place girly?” the woman bellows. With the dignity of a mouse Lucy squealed before running headlong down the street away from the lady. “Damn kids…” she mutters to herself.

  
Once out of sight Lucy began to slow down. There was no need to be so jumpy, but she couldn’t help it. She decided to wander around the town for the day, learning the layout of the area. While walking down a relatively quiet street she once again found herself as the spectator to a scene. “Bring it on you prick!” some man yells as a pair of doors fly open.

  
“What did you call me you bastard?” another man growls as a pair of people come tumbling out of the doors. Suddenly there is a whole crowd of people flowing out of the doors yelling and cheering the first two men on. Lucy could only stand there in mild shock as a literal fight broke out in the middle of the street in the middle of the day. It wasn’t the first fight she’d seen, but it was certainly up there as one of the stranger ones. She also found herself in the awkward position of trying to maneuver around a big, rowdy crowd of people. The first two men were going at it pretty hard it looked like they were really going to kill each other.

  
“Um...excuse me? Please,” Lucy tried to stand firm as she moved through the crowd. People much bigger than her elbowed and blocked her. A rather large man with a scar on his face and white hair knocked into her hard as one of the fighters flew into him. “Ouch!” she yelps as she goes flying across the cobblestone.

  
“That is enough!” a booming voice sliced through the crowd. “It is bad enough you two idiots ruin the bar, but when you bring it out to the street you ruin the town!” a beautiful red haired woman came storming out of the--presumed--bar. “Are you okay?” she looks down at Lucy who was still sprawled out on the street. “Elfman!” she snaps.

  
“Yes ma’am!” the large white haired man squeaks. Without being told, he moves down to help Lucy up. Without meaning to do it she flinches and Elfman’s face falls. “I’m really sorry. Real men don’t hurt ladies. Can I help you up miss?” Lucy looks at his hand then his face, before deciding he wasn’t that big of a threat.

  
“Thanks,” she mumbled as she grabs his hand. Elfman hauls Lucy up onto her feet and gives her a sheepish look. “It’s fine don’t worry about it.” Lucy says before he can apologize again. Lucy brushes some dirt off of her jeans and fixes her cardigan before turning and heading off down the street again.

  
“Hey! Hey wait!” someone yelled in a panic. Lucy turned around and was almost knocked over again. Some guy wearing all black and a mask came barreling out of that bar and straight towards Lucy. Panic and adrenaline seized her heart and without thinking Lucy grabs her baton and swipes the legs out from under the guy. Time seemed to stop as Lucy realized the mistake she just made. As soon as the guy hit the ground at least four men from the crowd earlier was on top of him. With the help from the adrenaline Lucy took that opportunity to finally get away from that place. There was still a lot of shouting and arguing as she fled the scene; it felt like someone was running after her but she couldn’t stop--wouldn’t stop--to look.

  
Lucy continued to run until her muscles burned and her lungs were raw. She finally slowed down and hid in an alleyway next to a bakery. The air was perfumed with cinnamon and sugar reminding her that the last time she had eaten was a few days ago. The panic helped to soften the edge of hunger as she stood back up and looked out into the street. This one was buiser, but the noise level was lower. When she was certain no one was following, Lucy stowed her baton back into the holster at her hip. A door behind her burst open just as she was about to walk out into the street. “You waste my flour and then call me a liar?” a small man carrying a large tray yells to some unknown person.  
Someone shouts something back as the man tosses out a whole tray of some kind of pastry. They were all misshapen and a little burnt, but Lucy thought they still looked edible. “When I am dead that is when you can run this business into the ground!” the man practically screams with finality to whoever he is arguing with back inside. The door slams shut once again and all Lucy can hear is the river and her heart as she sprints to the trash and grabs as many of the pastries as she can and shoves them into her bag. There was more shouting coming from behind the door and she did not want to be on the receiving end of it. Lucy runs out of the alleyway and a little ways down the street before stopping and sitting down near the river.

  
“Be careful young lady!” a kind fisherman shouts out to her. Lucy only smiles meekly and waves to him. It was only then that she realized the sun was setting and she had a very limited amount of time to get somewhere safe. With that thought she shoved a pastry in her mouth--something strawberry and sweet--and took off once again into the heart of Magnolia.

  
~~~~Back at the Bar

  
“Did you see that?” Natsu exclaims. “Who the hell was that chick?”

“Beats the hell outta me,” Gray drawled as he lights another cigarette. “I’m more worried about this guy.” Gray kicks the chair of the attempted thief. “And how he got close enough to steal our shit.”

“Watch the language Gray,” Ezra growls from the doorway. Her partner, and lover, Jellal stood behind her. “The master is on his way back from the gathering. Until then see what you can squeeze out of him,” Ezra turns to leave. Jellal stands there a moment longer looking at the thief.

“Somethin’ to say lover boy?” Natsu snaps. Jellal was always too much of a goody-goody for Natsu’s liking. The man simply turns and leaves them to their work. “Jeez what a piece of work.”

“Speaking of work,” Gray intones. “Let’s get this over with.” Natsu shuts the door with a maniacal laugh. The screams went unheard in the bar above.

~~~~Lucy

Keeping warm was the tricky part of sleeping outside. The bugs and the lack of privacy came second to freezing to death. Even with all of her layers bundled around her Lucy could still feel the chill in the air. “Damn it all to hell,” she swore between chattering teeth. It might be springtime, but the nights still spoke of the latest winter. With delicate fingers Lucy pulls out the remainder of her cash. Barely scratching one hundred thousand in savings. If she was lucky she could find a place for cheap in the seedier part of Magnolia. Maybe even a job if she was really lucky.But for now she would wrap her clothes tightly around her and try to get a few hours of sleep.

The next morning Lucy woke with a massive headache and hunger pains. Mustering up the courage and the will to move she stood up and packed up most of her clothes. She didn’t bother with changing anything, there was no point. She stuffed one of the pastries in her mouth before zipping up the bag and heading out to find real shelter and hopefully a job. The morning was brisk, but not as cold as the night and if the clouds were any indicators it looks like it was going to be a nice day again. She moved away from the park and back into the town center. There were a lot of flyers blowing around a giant church yesterday, “maybe someone needs a roommate?” she thought aloud.

As she rambled along the street admiring the trees and flowers Lucy got the distinct impression that someone was watching her. Without pausing or looking back she continued on her way. When she turned a corner, for just a brief moment, she saw a shadow shift her way. Lucy decided to stop at a sidewalk sale and browse their wares. The shadow loomed by, but never came close enough to see the person. With a feral rage and devastation that she was already compromised Lucy lured her stalker into a trap.

She remembered from yesterday that around the next corner was the house where that lady threw a man out. There was an alleyway to the left side of the building that Lucy ran into the moment she rounded the corner. The cloaked figure came around the corner and was brought up short as Lucy drove her baton into the side of their face. The person went down and their hood fell backwards. “Who the hell…” Lucy questions to herself. The man was unfamiliar to her. He looked like a petty criminal and a bad one at that. “Maybe he was just after my bag?” she tisked as she dragged the man into the alleyway and proceeded to look for something to tie him up with.

“My, my what a nasty little girl you are,” came the familiar voice of the landlady. Lucy looked up in a panic to find the woman at the end of the alleyway. “I like it. Here,” she tossed a rope to Lucy. “If I were you I’d report him.” The landlady laughed at Lucy’s distress.

“I don’t do police,” Lucy replied as she began to tie him up.

“Neither do I honey. Tell the bartender at Fairy Tail. They’ll know what to do with him,” she turned to leave. “Rent is 70 and that includes utilities and trash. I expect my money by the 7th of each month. See you soon girl.” Lucy was given no room to argue as the landlady ignored her as soon as her back was turned. She looked down once again at the man sleeping at her feet.

“What the hell is Fairy Tail?” Lucy murmurs to herself.

~~~~Back at the Bar

“So,” the master began. “Twilight Orge again? And now some mystery blonde girl who carries a retractable baton?” The pipe he smoked left the room smelling sickly sweet. Natsu’s nose hurt from the proximity of it, but he would endure.

“Yes that is the short of it master,” Ezra concludes. She has just gotten off from her legit job working as an investigator for the government. Her suit was cleanly pressed and service weapon was on prominent display. Not that they all didn’t carry a piece, but no one flashed theirs around quite like Ezra. It seems Jellal got held up with paperwork and was not going to make it to the meeting. Mira and Elfman shared a look. Laxus was sitting next to Reedus who was busy at work trying to recreate the blonde’s face. Gray and Natsu stood against the door listening for approaching footfalls. Everyone else was milling about waiting for orders.

“The scouting and investigation teams should be back before the end of the year. I have gotten a few updates--nothing worth noting. There is one thing we have to be careful about,” the master stops talking to make sure everyone was listening. “The rate of kidnappings has increased in a way that doesn’t sit well with me. The underground slave trade is getting out of hand.” A few people hissed and grunted their disapproval to the news. “Magnolia is just big enough for this type of work so keep your eyes and ears open children. Until the scout teams come home we wait.”

“Oh come on gramps you gotta be kiddin’ me!” Natsu whines. Ezra throws him a withering glare. “Tsk whatever,” he pouts. Gray laughs half-heartedly next to him, sitting and waiting wasn’t really their style. “I swear if something interesting doesn’t happen soon I’m going to blow,” he grumbles and it caused everyone else to laugh.

~~~~Lucy

“Ah...why did I just know it was going to be this place?” Lucy sighs as she walks up to the double doors from the day before. A gigantic sign reading ‘FAIRY TAIL’ looked down upon the girl as she pushed open the door. Lucy’s senses were assaulted by a myriad of sights, sounds, and smells. The place was a complete mess! Tables and chairs were strewn about everywhere, some poor lady was frantically trying to keep up with all the orders, and everyone was either shouting or drunk singing to the music. Lucy could only stare in abject horror.

“Welcome!” the poor woman greets happily from behind the bar. “I’ll be with you in a second!” She moves quick as silver back behind the bar grabbing new drinks and whisking away the dirty dishes. A couple other people weave in and out as they grab drinks or set down plates. It almost looked like a dance, almost. “Ouch!” the lady bumped into a younger girl and they both dropped their trays.

“Oh no! Here let me help,” Lucy rushed behind the bar to pick up glass and check on the girls. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah I’m okay--hey! You’re that girl! The one with the baton!” the friendly lady exclaimed. Lucy was taken aback at the sudden outburst. She didn’t even have time to formulate a proper response, the lady just kept on talking. “The owner of the bar was dying to meet you! He wanted to personally thank you for stopping that thief! It would have really been bad for business had he gotten away with what he stole,” she smiled at Lucy. “Come on! Let me take you to him,” she stood up and offered Lucy her hand. “Oh yeah by the way that was younger brother that bumped into yesterday,” she looked sheepish. “Sorry about that. He really didn’t mean any harm.”

“No problem,” Lucy says as she stands up. The lady directs a couple of people to get some chores done while she was gone then they were off. As they walked down the hall to a set of stairs Lucy became uneasy, but the lady just continued to talk.

“...and that move! That was incredible! I mean you took him out in one hit! Not many people can boost to that kind of strength and flexibility. You have to have dropped your entire weight into your heels just to get low enough to knock out his knees the way you did,” she turns to look back at Lucy. “Oh dear listen to me prattle on and on and I completely forget my manners! I’m Mirajane the staffing coordinator here at Fairy Tail. It’s nice to meet you!”

“Oh likewise Mirajane-san. My name is Lily Herschel,” Lucy smiled at Mirajane. “Please call me Lily.” Mirajane gave Lucy a sceptical glance, but ultimately like everyone else she accepted Lucy’s cover as the real thing.

“You can call me Mira,” Mira stops in front of a door. “Here we are! This is the owners office, please come in.” She opens the door to a room filled with sweet smelling smoke.

“Master I found the baton girl! She came back!” behind a nice looking desk sat a small old man with a pipe. “Her name is Lily.”

“Ah Lily! What a pleasure to finally meet you!” The man leapt up onto his desk and clapped his hands together. “Thank you for your help yesterday in apprehending that thief! To what do we owe the pleasure of you coming back to Fairy Tail?”

“A-ah well that…” Lucy trails off. “There was this man stalking me. I don’t really know why, but my new landlady told me to tell one of the bartenders at your bar about it.” She pauses as the information is digested. “Instead of going to the police.”

“Oh I see,” the owner gave a strange look to Mira who in turn merely nodded and then left the room. “Thank you for sharing that information with me Lily,” he smiled wide enough to crinkle his whole face. “My name is Marvarok and I want to thank you again for your help yesterday.”

“It was really...not a problem at all,” Lucy replied sheepishly.

“Come now! There must be something that you want! Name your price!” he grinned down at her.

“Um well I do need a job…”

~~~~Natsu

Walking into the bar that night Natsu and Gray saw a strange sight. “Oi...isn’t that that girl from yesterday?” Gray asks.

“Looks like it,” Natsu murmurs in agreement, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s she doing here behind the bar?” Both men stare in shared perplexity at the blonde who, from the looks of it, was running the bar.

“Natsu! Gray!” they both turned to see Cana and Laki running up to them. “Isn’t she great? Her name’s Lily and the master gave her a job as thanks for stopping that Twilight bastard yesterday,” Cana laughs.

“She really knows how to work a bar crowd!” Laki adds. “She made this drink with fire and cinnamon and it was amazing.” Gray scoffs, but Natsu’s ears perked up immediately.

“Fire? In a drink? How?” he asks excitedly. Before Cana or Laki could explain he heard someone shouting aggressively.

“Some time later flamebrain it looks like our night starts now,” Gray says before taking off towards the stage. Natsu whines and Laki throws him an apologetic smile before they take off after Gray. Natsu caught the blonde--Lily--staring at the ruckus and scowling. He didn’t have time to ponder why she was so mad before he was in the thick of it. A couple of minutes later Elfman and Laxus were tossing out a couple of guys that tried to get a little too handsy with Lisanna and Juvia before their show. “Tsk that wasn’t any fun,” Gray says afterwards as they lounge by the door checking IDs and doing general surveillance.

Natsu grunts in response as a couple of cute girls tried to steal his attention while he checked there IDs. When it was clear he wasn’t interested in following them to the dance floor they moved on to other prey. The place was packed, not an inch of space to really stand let alone sit down. At the bar there seemed to be more people than usual hanging out. Lisanna and Juvia were a favorite act, but the dance floor didn’t seem nearly as full as the bar area. “What’s up with that?” Natsu points with his chin at the bar.

“Beats the hell outta me. All I know is it looks like we are gettin’ paid tonight,” Gray smirks at two girls as they walk by. They blush and giggle as they pass. Natsu only rolls his eyes, Gray was an absolute idiot.

~~~~Lucy a few hours before

“Okay so this is the main area I’ll need you!” Mira moves behind the bar to show Lucy were they kept everything. “You can take orders and help run the food--”

“I can bartend,” Lucy interrupts. Mira looks momentarily stunned as she processes this new information. “I’m really good actually. I can show you…” she trails off while staring at the line of liquor bottles.

“Alright,” Mira finally responds. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Lucy just smirks, she knows the perfect shot to make. It was something she picked up at the first bar she ever worked at. “Have you ever heard of a Backdraft?” she asks as she grabs a small plate, a bottle of sambuca, and a bottle of cointreau from the back counter. A few of the bar patrons and other employees were gathering around as she set up her shot. “It’s real intense,” she continues when it was clear no one had heard of it. She grabs a short tumbler glass and places a few ice cubes into it as she grabs a straw from the holder. “It is not a shot for the faint of heart or who has pyrophoia.” Lucy asks for a shaker of cinnamon from the kitchen and a server grabs it for her.  
She gets a few weird looks from people as they do not quite understand what she’s getting at. ‘They’ll see,’ she thinks a little smugly as she puts a shot glass full of sambuca on the plate before grabbing a pint glass and pouring a shot of cointreau into it, she swirls the cointreau so it rides up the side of the glass a little. “Now here is the fun part,” she says right before pulling out a lighter from under the counter and setting the pint glass ablaze. A couple of people yelled and one girl screamed as Lucy swirled the flames around and then dumped it onto the sambuca.

While the flames were still tall and hot Lucy shook out a few sprinkles of cinnamon to send out bursts of color and flames. She gathered the smoke back into the pint glass, sealed it off with her hand, and then stuck the straw between her fingers before sucking up the smoke. Without pause she then stuck the straw in the shot and drank it down in one go, even clearing the spill over from the plate. Lucy then stuck the ice in her mouth, “for people who aren’t used to think drink the ice goes into the shot to cool it down. I just personally happen to like it hot. And there you have it ladies and gentlemen a Backdraft.”

The crowd burst into a cacophonous roar and several men were demanding to try the shot themselves. Lucy turns to look at Mira and she found that Mira is a little slack jawed. “Well you certainly know how to put on a good show,” Mira finally says. “Alright you are definitely a bartender. Go home and change into something comfortable and come back at five I’ll have you work close tonight with me and Reedus.”

“Thank you Mira!” Lucy beams as she darts out from behind the bar and dodges a few wandering hands. “I’ll be back tonight!”

Lucy thinks back to this as more and more people show up to the bar specifically for her and that shot. ‘Karma is definitely a bitch,’ she thinks as she goes to make another Backdraft. The crowd was so big and loud that there was no way anyone across the room would be able to see the flames. Every once in a while Lucy makes it out from behind the bar to go steal some fries from the kitchen or see the act on the stage. Apparently Mira also has a younger sister named Lisanna and she is a singer. Reedus was a pretty cool guy, really into artsy beers and liquors. Mira was a way more classic bartender, pints of beer and shots of fireball. A couple of the servers that night also doubled as bartenders, but they preferred weekdays not weekends.

Mira tried to point out other employees but they were so swamped that Lucy would just have to learn them all at another time. Around one in the morning the entertainment flipped from live to the radio. The other girl that Lucy didn’t know came behind the bar to grab a glass of water. “Juvia will be out of you way in a moment!” the girl said with a smile.

“No problem!” Lucy shouts over the crowd. “You guys were awesome by the way!”

Juvia only smiled and waved in response before backing out and disappearing into the crowd. Around a half hour later a booming voice called out last call, Lucy followed suit and started closing out her tabs. Reedus and Mira ran back and forth to get everyone that was out on the dance floor closed out as well. Finally at about five minutes until two in the morning the bar began to empty out. Bar patrons began pouring out into the street with shouts and cheers about a night well spent. Reedus was clearing out dishes while Mira went to work actually washing the glasses.

“Great job tonight girl!” Cana said as she walks up to the bar. “I can’t believe how packed you kept the bar! Usually Juvia and Lisanna pull everyone to the floor,” she laughs and Lucy only smiles.

“It won’t be like that for long. I’m just brand new and different, so enough it will be commonplace. But thank you,” Lucy says. Cana was the first person to try her Backdraft shot after her demonstration. Even with the ice in the glass she declared it too difficult to get down, but she did. As did about twenty other brave souls that night. Right then someone dropped a plate and they both turned to find Laki on the ground trying to clean up the pieces.

“Laki what are you doing?” Cana scolds before moving to help. Lucy grabs the broom and dustpan from the kitchen and walks over to help. When she finally makes her way over a couple of guys were staring down at her coworkers with looks that didn’t sit right with Lucy. “Alright guys it’s time for you to go home. We’re closed,” Cana scowls at the men as she stands back up.

“Hey we were just lookin’ for a good time…”

~~~~Natsu

“Alright guys it’s time for you to go home. We’re closed,” that was all Natsu and Gray needed to hear. They both got up off their stools and started to head over to the girls. One of the guys actually had the audacity to drag Laki up from the floor and leer over her, she looked positively terrified.

“Shit!” Gray cursed, but before either of the guys could break into a sprint the man holding onto Laki was on the ground.

“I believe you were told it is closing time,” that new girl Lily said coolly.

“You bitch! That hurt!” the man howled from the ground as he held his head. The man’s friend moved to take the broom from Lily, but she was much more sober and quicker than him. With a flick of her wrist and a well placed elbow from Cana that man was also on the floor. Cana and Lily smirk at each other before herding Laki behind them.

“You the security?” Lily asks the guys suddenly. Natsu was so transfixed by the effortless take down he forgot how to speak. Gray must have said something because then she said, “well go on then. Take out the trash.” Without another word she turns back to Laki before walking her to the kitchen.

“You just gonna stand there lookin’ stupid?” Gray asks and Cana laughs. Natsu shoots him a dirty look before walking over and picking up the second guy that Lily put on the floor.

“Shut up you prick,” he spits back. As they take the assholes to the door to drop them outside Natsu missed the funny look that passed over Cana’s face.

~~~~Lucy

“I am beat!” Lucy whines once the bar is officially cleaned and restocked. She was nursing a glass of water at a table with Juvia and Laki. Mira was still in the kitchen apparently eating with her siblings and Reedus was closing down the register with the help of some guy named Laxus. He introduced himself as the owners grandson.

“We made a killing tonight!” Cana squeals as she plops down at the fourth chair. “Even after having to tip everyone out I am rich!” she cackles as she runs her hand lovingly over a wad of cash.

“Juvia and Lisanna also made quite a lot tonight,” Juvia hums in agreement. “Juvia can finally buy a bigger bed!” she sent a quick glance over to a group of male employees congregating by the bar. They all continued to talk about bills to pay and things to buy since tonight was so good. “What about you Lily?” Lucy looked up at the group sheepishly. “What are you planning to do with your money from tonight?” Juvia clarifies.

“Oh, I gotta pay my rent since I just moved into a new apartment,” she answers. “Maybe buy a few new clothes. A couple of my pants are getting ratty.” Once the drawer is counted and the owner takes the money to the safe can they all go. It was pushing three in the morning when Lucy and the others began walking out the door.

“Lily can you be here tomorrow at five again?” Mira calls out.

“Sure!” she calls back.

“Can I walk you home?” Lucy turns to find one of the security guys behind her. “Name’s Gray and I live this way, too.”

“Oh! Then yeah sure that’s fine,” Lucy says uneasily. “I’m Lily.”

“Yeah I’ve heard,” he laughs. They began walking along the river. “Those were some pretty quick moves you got.” Gray says with a sidelong glance. “What was that?”

“Self-taught self-defense,” Lucy admits. “I’ve worked in a couple other bars and was tired of being harassed by handsy customers.” Gray nods in understanding and they fall into silence.

A few minutes pass before Gray stops walking, “I gotta go this way. You want me to walk you to your door?” he asks. Lucy thinks about it for only a moment.

“No I’m okay thank you though Gray.” They say goodnight and go separate ways. Lucy walks along the river for another couple of minutes before she finally stops in front of her new apartment building. A light was on in the lowermost window and a rotund figure could be seen walking around. Lucy walks up to the door and knocks lightly. The door opens to reveal the landlady.

“I took your bag you left in the alleyway up to your apartment. Here,” she dangles a gold key out with the number 14 engraved on it. “You’re on the second floor and currently only have one neighbor across the way.” Lucy takes the key with a smile. “I’ve left the rules on the coffee table.”

“Okay, oh and here you go,” Lucy digs out her tips from the night and counts out half of what she owes. “I know that’s only half, but I can get you the rest tomorrow.” The landlady takes the money and sticks it in her bra with a grunt of acknowledgment. She let’s Lucy into the building and directs her to the stairs. Lucy goes up and finds number 14, it was sparsely furnished, but everything looked well tended to. There were no sheets or blankets, but Lucy finally had a bed. She flopped down onto the mattress and within moments was dead to the world.

The next day Lucy got up and actually looked around the apartment. The bathroom had a pretty decently sized tub and a modern styled shower. The kitchen was fully equipped and nothing appeared to be broken. “This place is actually really nice,” she murmurs to herself. Without any toiletries all she can do is splash some cold water on her face and neck before moving to look over the rules. It all seemed standard enough, but what was surprising was the map of the immediate area that pointed out the closet grocer and shopping district.

“Nice,” Lucy says as she changes into less dirty clothes and grabs out a fair amount of money. After throwing on her shoes, she is out the door and on a mission to buy a few household things and pants.

~~~~Back at the Bar

“Ugh...my head,” Makarov complains as he pops a few pain relievers. Elfman and Lisanna throw him sympathetic looks. Laxus merely rolls his eyes at his grandfather’s antics.

“Jellal there had better be a good reason that you dragged me out of bed this morning.”

“Yes of course master. The reason I asked to gather is because of some troubling information I’ve found about that slave trade that is gaining ground.” Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and at that moment was when Natsu and Gray decided to walk in.

“Oi gramps bad news, turns out Twilight Orge has a hand in that kidnapping business,” Gray announces. Everyone turns to stare at him in shock.

“How did you--never mind I don’t want to know,” Jellal says. “It’s true and I found a link between one of our top troublemakers and Twilight Orge.” Jellal turns to look at the men by the door. “Remember Jose?” Gray’s nostrils flared and Lisanna took in a sharp breath. “It’s a flimsy lead given to me by one of the investigation teams we got out and collaborated by some info from the agency. But we might be able to nail this guy this time.”  
Natsu nearly busted the doorframe when his fist slammed into it. “What do we need to do?”

“Right now all we can do is collect more information to bring formal charges against him. I have a few agents working on this alongside me and Ezra. The scouting team is being redirected as we speak to do some spying on Jose directly while the information team is shifting through whatever they can find.” Gray and Elfman both curse aloud while Natsu can only seethe.

“Right, so what do we need to keep our ears open for?” the master asks.

“There is a suspected collaborator that has quite the fortune available to them. Some rich guy named Jude Heartfilia. Apparently Jose and him have come into contact in the recent years for some reason. That reason is yet unknown, but it suspected to have to do with the heir to the Heartfilia fortune.” Jellal consults the papers in his hand for a moment. “It’s a girl and by the looks of it she is about eighteen years old, her name is Lucy Heartfilia. There are no known photos of her. Apparently she is kept under tight security.”

“Is there a description of her?” Lisanna asks.

“Unfortunately no, no one has seen this girl ever. There are only vague accounts of what her mother even looked like. Lady Layla Heartfilia died some years ago, a wasting disease is listed as the official cause of death,” he rifles through the papers once again. “At most the accounts say that she was very beautiful and the rumors are that her daughter took after her in a strikingly similar way.”

“That’s not very helpful,” Laxus grunts. Everyone in the room agrees, but it isn’t like there is anything they can do about it.

“Don’t worry I sent on of the best scouts out on a seperate mission. One that--if successful--will be a promising lead.” Jellal shuffled the papers back into order before adding,

“I’ll keep you updated.” With that his phone started to ring and he left the room.

“I’ll kill that snake if I ever see him again,” Natsu hisses with malice and ire. Gray agreed and the master could only look on solemnly as they all tried to forget about that terrible night two years ago. “Tsk I’m going to help Mira open the bar. I’m so fucking pissed right now. God damnit!” he kicks the door frame before storming off back downstairs.

“Gray can you make sure he doesn’t say anything to Mira?” Elfman asks.

“Yeah,” he sighs in irritation, “but I’m pretty ticked off too, you know.”


	2. Fairgrounds and Nightmares

~~~~Lucy

At the bar that night the crowd was slightly more manageable. It seems on Sunday evenings Fairy Tail does karaoke night. To Lucy’s utter astonishment people still wanted to get absolutely hammered while they sang Ariana Grande songs. Cana was behind the bar tonight with Lucy while Reedus had the night off and Mira was more in charge of the kitchen. It seems the two security guys from the day before were also here plus a guy with blue hair and sunglasses.

She caught Gray’s eye and he threw a little smirk and wink before turning back to the crowd. The guy she didn’t know punched Gray in the arm and said something she couldn’t hear while that other guy with the shockingly pink hair only rolled his eyes. He turned to look at Lucy and it wasn’t creepy, but he did seem to be looking at her a little too hard. In annoyance and retaliation for the nosiness she flipped him off.

This caught him off guard enough that she actually laughed at him. “What’s so funny Lily?” Cana came up next to here to grab the well whiskey.

“That pink haired guy was staring too much so I flipped him off,” Lucy says with a shrug. “He made a dumb face.”

“Ha!” Cana barks. “Serves him right, Natsu is such a pain in the ass.”

“Natsu? I didn’t know his name,” Lucy grabs a couple of discarded bottles and lines them back up. “Who’s the other one? With the glasses?”

“Ah that’s Bixlow he is security and bar back kinda like Natsu and Gray. Sometimes moonlights as an errand boy for the master.” Cana hauls another load of clean glasses over. She puts the high up ones away while Lucy gets the low ones. “Him, Laxus, and Freed are all real close. See that woman over there?” Cana motions with her head towards the back of the store near the stairwell. “That’s Evergreen,” she leans in close, “on again off again girlfriend of Elfman.” She winks at Lucy, “don’t tell anyone I told you. It’s supposed to be a  _ secret _ ,” she whispers. “But she is also security I wouldn’t cross her myself. Ezra is also someone I wouldn’t piss off if I were you.”

“Who?” Lucy asks after grabbing a couple of new drinks and clearing out old glasses.

“Tall, red hair, and tough as nails Ezra Scarlet. She has a job in the government, but she comes back and picks up shifts every once in a while,” Cana shrugs before moving down the bar to close out a tab. Lucy hums in quiet contemplation as she continues to make rounds in the bar. Closer to closing time the karaoke is cut off and a couple of people protest, but it all dies down when Bixlow and Natsu glare at them. 

“Hey sweetie can I get one last beer?” a nice looking man with dark brown hair and crystal blue eyes asks as he walks up to the bar. Lucy, never being one to lose money because of degrading men, smiles brightly and grabs a beer. “Thanks sweetie,” he looked her up and down with a predatory smile. “So what’s a guy gotta do to take you home tonight?”

Before she can respond a very menacing presence creeps up behind the guy. “Almost closing time there buddy,” the man whirls around to find Natsu standing there with roughly five inches on him. “Better drink up and get out.” The man scowls at Natsu before turning back to Lucy with a ‘what-can-you-do’ look.

“Here, keep the change,” the man slides a wad of bills towards her before stalking off. 

“You could have cost me a sale!” Lucy hisses at Natsu as soon as the man is out of earshot. “You’re lucky he paid or I would have taken it out of you cash out!” Lucy began to count out the money when a slip of paper fell out. “What the hell is this?” When she held it up to the light she found a name and number written down. Without warning Natsu suddenly leapt over the bar and was in Lucy’s personal space.

“Men like him aren’t worth the sale in my opinion,” he says casually while plucking the paper out of her fingers. He turns his head slightly to make eye contact with the man before chucking the paper into the trash can. “You should be more careful...”

“I don’t need you telling me what to do. And I certainly don’t need you weaseling your way into my business!” she snaps at him. Natsu only smirks at the guy before turning to look at her again. Lucy was suddenly aware of just how close he was standing and she backed up. “Just...go clean something or  _ something _ ,” she mutters before walking off to clear the bar. She felt his eyes on the back of her head and she steadfastly refused to look at him again.

“Natsu! Get the hell out from behind my bar!” Cana yells suddenly. She throws a rag at Natsu’s face, “go wipe a table you pain in the ass!” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah Cana whatever you say,” Natsu says in that casual tone again. Out of the corner of her eye Lucy saw him give Cana an easy smile. 

“What an asshole. You okay Lily?”

“Yeah he was just being...I don’t overprotective or something. That good looking patron tried to take me home,” Lucy makes a motion towards the guy leaving the bar.

“Oh yeah the guys here really don’t like it when the customers do that. Unless we know the guy and your dating that type of behavior just isn’t tolerated here.” Cana turns briefly to a couple at the bar to close out their tab. “Too many guys tried to pull some real dick moves a while back. So we just stomp it out now,” she finishes. 

“Well you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not looking to get involved with anyone.” Lucy scrunches her nose up at the thought of involving anyone else in her mess of a life. “Alright I’ll go clear out the dining area since all my tabs are closed. You cool with cleaning the bar?”

“Sounds good to me,” Cana replies before grabbing a rag and throwing it to Lucy. Once again after the drawer is counted and locked everyone starts to leave.

“Later Lily,” Cana waves goodbye before heading in the opposite direct with a couple of the kitchen people and Bixlow. Lucy waves back and begins to head home.

“Walk you home?” she turns to see Gray standing there with his hands in his pockets. 

Lucy rolls her eyes at him, “sure.” They walk side by side in silence. The night at least hadn’t been as crazy as the crowd yesterday so it felt like a nice night.

“How are you adjusting to Magnolia?” Gray suddenly asks.

“Oh fine I suppose. I bought some stuff for my apartment today and new shoes, look!” she stops to hold up one foot. “No holes!”

“You were walking around with holes in your shoes?” he asks.

“I’m not made of money Gray,” she huffs. “I buy shoes that will last a while so I don’t have to worry about replacing them every month. Besides these ones are cute!” 

“If you say so Lily,” Gray laughs. “See you tomorrow,” he turns down his street with a wave.

“Bye Gray!” she calls after him.

The next day Mira told Lucy to take the day off. “We’re so overstaffed on Mondays,” she says with a sigh. “Go and explore the city! I think Natsu and Lisanna are heading out to do something, you should go with them!” she says brightly.

“Oh...I don’t want to impose on anyone’s plans. I’m fine Mira, thank you,” Lucy says with an awkward laugh. 

“No seriously you should go with them! I think it was a festival or something is happening in the north side of town. Lisanna!” Mira calls out to her sister that walks in from the kitchen. “Can Lily go with you and Natsu to that festival thing today?”

“Oh yeah! I’m trying to strong arm Freed and Ever to come along, too,” Lisanna smiles at Lucy. “It will be fun! Just wait right there for a sec!” Lisanna bolts to the hall beyond the stairwell that holds the bars stockroom and the employee restrooms. There were a few muffled screams and a loud thud before Lisanna came back triumphantly dragging the two unwilling participants behind her. “Let’s go! Natsu, Gray, and Juvia will be at the fairgrounds waiting for us!” 

“Al-alright,” Lucy says with a small amount of fear as she watches the tiny woman drag Freed and Evergreen behind her. “Bye Mira, see you later!”

“Bye, have fun! Lily I don’t need you back until Wednesday okay!” Mira shouts out the door with a smile. “So enjoy the days off!” 

~~~~Lucy; Later at the Fair

“Wow,” Lucy breathes out. “This is beautiful. What’s it for?” she asks Lisanna who was giving the tickets to the man in the booth.

“Magnolia has some amazing Spring based events. This one is the Lilac festival and it is one of the prettier ones!” Lisanna shows off the stunning array of flower themed games and booths. “Hey guys!” she shouts at a group a little to the side of the entry point. 

“Oi about damn time,” Gray shouts back. “Oh Lily I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Yeah...me either,” Lucy says with a smile. “Freed and Evergreen were roped into this as well.” She points behind her to the other two group members. “But this looks so cool.”

“This is Juvia’s favorite festival!” Juvia squeals as she slides up next to Gray with a strange expression. “Juvia can’t wait for the fireworks tonight,” it was said with such a suggestive tone that Lucy gave Gray a sidelong glance. He looked uncomfortable to say the least. Lisanna saves Lucy from that weird conversation by handing her a map of the grounds.

“It gets bigger every year I swear it,” Lisanna laughs. “Where do you want to go Lily?”

“Does this say flower crown competition?” Lucy beams. “Can anyone join? I can make a really good flower crown,” she says.

“Let’s go look! Ever come on you love wearing crowns!” Lisanna pulls on the older woman’s wrist to make her move. Lucy gives a sympathetic look to Freed who only sighs in frustration and resignation. 

“Well might as well enjoy the day off,” he walks over to Lucy and offers his arm. “Shall we?” Lucy looks at his offered arm and considers it.

‘ _ He really does seem like a kind person. He never lets anyone act out at the bar and he helps clean up without complaining… _ ’ Lucy smiles at him then slips her arm through his own. “I think this could be fun,” she offers. Briefly she turns her head and catches a glimpse of Natsu hanging back. “Come on spoilsport,” Lucy reaches out with her free hand. “It’s good to relax once in a while.”

“Whatever you say weirdo,” Natsu replies, but a small smile plays on his lips as he reaches out and takes her hand. “Let’s go win that competition!” The three of them run after their other groupmates to catch up. Once at the competition they all sign up to compete to win a gift certificate to a local spa. Lucy did in fact make the best flower crown and a few enemies out of two old ladies. 

The group raced around the fair playing games and winning prizes the rest of the day. Lucy couldn’t remember the last time she had fun, let alone this much of it. She should have known better. By the time night fell the temperature had dropped significantly and she didn’t have a jacket. “Hey I think I need to head out everyone,” Lucy announces at the picnic table they were able to snag. “I don’t have a jacket and it’s getting really cold out. But this was fun thank you for letting me come with you guys today.” She smiles as brightly as she could when everyone protests her leaving.

“The fireworks are in a half hour!” Juvia tries to reason with her.

“Come on Lil you can’t handle a little cold?” Gray teases. 

“Please stay Lily it’s more fun with all of us,” Lisanna says. Lucy tries to quell their disappointment when a jacket is dropped on her head.

“Here you can use it for tonight,” Natsu mumbles before going back to eating his hotdog. Everyone seemed satisfied with the solution. Lucy put on the jacket and found that her arms didn’t even reach all the way through the sleeves. “You look ridiculous,” he snorts.

“What’s that say about you then?” Lucy coos back sweetly. This earned her a scowl from the man. “Hey I didn’t know you have a tattoo,” she pokes at his shoulder where a small part of a tattoo could be seen.

“Yeah most everyone at the bar has one,” Natsu rolls his short sleeve up a little higher. “Mines a dragon, takes up my whole back. What about you?” In that moment Lucy realized that she was making a mistake.

“Oh...me? No,  _ no  _ tattoos aren’t my thing. Like they’re  _ totally  _ fine! B-but I just don’t like needles and I can’t sit still for that long,” she was babbling. Natsu and Evergreen were giving her a strange look. “Uh, so none I don’t have any,” she pulls the jacket a little tighter around her. “I’ll be right back I need to use the restroom,” with that she stands up and walks away quickly. Lucy ran once she was out of sight of the group. The fair took over one of the town squares so there was a fountain littered in flowers and colorful paper near the center of it. She collapsed against the side of it and took a shuddering breath. “Idiot. Stupid, stupid idiot,” she chides to herself. 

She felt her hand drift towards her thigh in painful remembrance of why this night was a bad idea.  _ ‘No friends, no lovers, no witnesses _ ,’ her mind chanted. ‘ _ All I have to do is get through this fireworks display and then never go out like this again _ ,’ she thought bitterly. Once her breathing returned to normal she stood up and started to head back. It was only after five minutes that she realized she had no idea where she was. “Shit!” she curses aloud.

“You talk like that in front of kids?” Lucy whirls around to find Natsu standing there with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Shut up I got confused is all,” Lucy mutters in embarrassment. 

“Come on,” he holds out his hand, “so you don’t get lost again.” This time his smile is more genuine and kind. With an exaggerated eye roll and a huff Lucy let’s Natsu take her by the hand and lead her back towards the group.

“Thanks for coming for me Natsu,” she says after a couple of minutes of silence. He only squeezes her hand in response. 

Once back with the group Lisanna vowed to stay next to Lucy so she didn’t get lost in the crowd again. Juvia and Evergreen secured a spot to watch the fireworks down by the river while Gray and Freed went to grab blankets. Everyone was settled by the time the first firework was lighting up the sky. Juvia and Lisanna cheered with the rest of the crowd. Evergreen and Freed seemed happy to be watching the show. Lucy was trying hard to appear happy, too. It wasn’t working very well.

“What’s wrong with you weirdo?” Natsu leans in closer so only Lucy can hear him. “You’ve been bummed out since I found you.”

“My name is Lily, stop calling me a weirdo you weirdo,” Lucy deflects. Natsu only stares at her. “I’m just tired, it was a long weekend.”

“Lily look!” Lisanna interrupts at the perfect time. “They made the fireworks look like actual flowers!” It was true, the fireworks took on the shape of a lilac, daffodils, and a rose. “It would have been so cool if they did a Lily, too.” Lisanna smiles at Lucy and it reminds her of Mira.

“Well I’m beat,” Gray announces. “Let’s head out of here before the crowd gets to rowdy.”

“Agreed,” Evergreen says as she stands and stretches. “I’ll walk with you Freed. Lisanna you should come with us, too. We’ll make sure you get home safe.”

“Okay! Bye Juvia, bye Gray!” she waves at the pair as they began to leave for their respective homes. “See you later Natsu and Lily,” she runs up and hugs Lucy tightly, “I’m glad you came today.”

Feeling uncomfortable, but not wanting to be rude Lucy says, “of course it was a blast.” The other three head off in the opposite direction of Gray and Juvia.

“Before I forget here you go Natsu,” Lucy moves to take the jacket off. “Thank you for letting me borrow it.”

“Keep it you still gotta walk home.” Natsu says as he chucks the blankets into the passing cart. “See you later,” he says simply before turning to head off into a different direction from everyone else.

“Yeah see ya,” Lucy looks around nervously. ‘ _ I haven’t been to this part of the city yet...how do I get back to the apartment? _ ’

~~~~Natsu

“See you later,” Natsu says before heading out. ‘ _ Wait a minute… _ ’ he thinks to himself. When he turns back around he saw her still standing there next to the river looking lost. He sighs loudly before stomping back over to her. “Come on,” he grumbles as he offers his hand to her again. She looks at him in bewilderment before mumbling something. “What was that?”

“I said you don’t have to keep helping me,” she mutters only slightly louder.

“How else am I going to know you’re okay?” Natsu says off-handedly. Lily looks at him with a guarded expression. Natsu only continued to smile and hold out his hand. Usually he was one that charged on ahead without much consideration for the surrounding area or people. But this girl was giving him pause, something in the way she carried herself made him stop short. Without a doubt everyone could tell she was pretty, even she seemed to know this about herself. But she always wore layers and her clothes were so worn down he was surprised they were still holding together. It made here look less approachable.

When her small, cool, and calloused hand slid into his Natsu began to walk back towards the bar. “Let’s retrace your steps. Which way from the bar do you live?”

“East the same way that Gray has to go to get back to his house. But I’m farther away than him,” she states. Natsu navigates them across a bridge and through an alleyway to cut across the town. “Pretty sure I live on Strawberry Street,” she said after a thoughtful moment. 

“Okay this way will get us there,” Natsu replies. ‘ _ Gray should have just taken her home _ ,’ he thought in annoyance. ‘ _ This girl is so weird… _ ’ he was just about to voice his opinion when Lily’s hand tightened in his own. Out of the corner of his eye he caught her looking a little jumpy. “What’s up?” Natsu asks.

“N-nothing,” she stutters as her eyes darted to the waist of his pants. “Here is fine, I know how to get back from here.” She slips her hand from his and takes a few steps back. “See you around...Natsu,” her eyes shifted around nervously before she just turned and started to walk away.

“What a weirdo,” he huffs. “Whatever,” he moves to straighten his shirt and freezes. “Shit,” he grumbles as he brushes his fingers over his gun tucked into the waist of his pants. “Hey I can explain!” Natsu starts as he turns around, but it was too late she was gone.

~~~~Lucy

‘ _ Calm down, calm down, calm down _ ,’ Lucy chants to herself as she locks the door to her apartment. She goes over to double check the window was latched and that the book she placed in front of it was still in the same place. ‘ _ He isn’t going to shoot you. You’re fine _ ,’ Lucy checks her bag to make sure all her savings and possessions were still put together. With her clothes and shoes still on Lucy finally lays down on the bed and attempts to sleep.

_ “You can’t possibly be serious boss?” a gruff voice intones.  _

_ “Shut up you mongrel I don’t have time to explain everything to you,” the too familiar voice sneers. “Just get her a little more...receptive. This is going to be our biggest payday yet,” the familiar voice begins to laugh as they walk away. The first voice could be heard through the solid steel door as the person curses and then punches something. _

_ Lucy can’t even look up as the door opens and closes quickly. Her neck had to be broken otherwise she couldn’t understand the pain. One of her shoulders was popped out of place, but she couldn’t remember which one it was anymore. Pain was radiating throughout her whole body. The shackles around her wrists and ankles chaffed her skin completely off. “Sorry ‘bout this,” the voice said. “This is not my idea,” the voice sounded remorseful which was ridiculous to Lucy.  _

_ There was no more warnings, no chance to flinch as the fist came crashing down on her broken body. There isn’t anymore left in her.  _

Lucy awoke with a start and found that she had fallen off the bed in the middle of the night. Looking over at the clock showed that it was only seven in the morning. With a loud sigh she rolled herself up and stretched out her limbs. “Might as well take a shower,” she grabs out some clean clothes and a towel. The nightmare continued to replay in her head as she turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up. With the sounds of flesh pounding on flesh ringing in her ears Lucy began to undress. The nightmares always made her shoulders ache in remembrance. 

Once her shower warmed up she stepped under the stream. The warmth helped to wake her up and chase the demons back into the dark. “What am I going to do today?” she mumbles to herself. The water ran cold by the time she decided to step out. Lucy takes a turn in the mirror to access the damage. The scars along her wrists and ankles have all but faded after the past couple of years, but there were a few scars she knew would never go away. “A girl can dream though,” she sighed bitterly as she begins to dry her hair. She ties her hair up with a pink ribbon and throws on some jeans and a light sweater. Lucy grabs her shoes and wallet before walking out the door.

“Might as well map out a few more streets.”

~~~~Back at the bar

“Stop sighing you’re heating up my beer,” Gray grumbles to Natsu. “What crawled up your ass and died anyway?”

“Gray leave Natsu alone,” Mira scolds before walking back into the kitchen. Romeo walked out of the kitchen with a couple plates that he set down in front of the men.

“Thanks kid and tell your dad I need to talk to him later,” Gray says. Romeo beams and heads back into the kitchen. Juvia, Cana, Elfman, and Laxus walk by with various topics of conversation before Natsu finally turns to look at his longtime friend/rival.

“I think I fucked up with that new chick,” he finally admits. Gray chokes on his chicken leg.

“You  _ slept  _ with her?” he coughed. “What the fuck man!”

“I did  _ not  _ sleep with her,” Natsu hisses, “and stop yelling ice princess!” Gray gave him an incredulous look before motioning to continue. “I think she saw my gun and freaked out. I was taking her home and we were still probably five blocks away from her street and she just--just stopped and walked off.” He rubs his hands down his face and sighs again. 

“You had  your gun on you last night?” Gray scolds. “Why? We went to a  _ flower  _ festival for fucks sake.” 

“I know.”

“You’ve been awful jumpy since...since that mission you went on a few months ago. What’s goin’ on man?” Natsu picks at his plate and ignores the question. “Fine be that way. But it’s gonna come back and bite you in the ass if you can’t talk about it.” Gray finishes his food and walks the plate to the back.

“Here Natsu,” he looks up to see Cana sliding a shot of whiskey down the bar to him. “He’s just worried. We all are so don’t be too big of a dick okay?” She turns away and heads back out into the dining area without another word. 

“Shit,” he growls as he slams back the shot before standing up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I figured out how to post on here without trying to rip my hair out :) goodie
> 
> Reviews are always welcomed!


	3. Distracting

~~~~Lucy

“Thank you young lady!” the bookkeeper said from behind the counter. Lucy waves before exiting the store with a smile. It was a terrible impulse buy on her part, but Lucy couldn’t help it. The book looked so good and it was on sale. The sun was high in the sky with a slight breeze drifting through that made the day so pleasant. Lucy felt more confident in her directions and escape routes now that she decided to spend the rest of the day in one of the parks reading.

As she wandered down a quiet street Lucy got the distinct impression of being followed again. Feeling suddenly irritated she spins around quickly to find a certain pink haired man coming up behind her. “Natsu?” she says in exasperation. 

“Trying to find you is a lot harder than I thought it would be,” he says in way of greeting. “You are surprisingly hard to track.”

“Thanks,” she mutters. “What are you doing tracking me in the first place?” She looks down to check that his gun from the last night wasn’t visible.

Natsu sighs loudly and runs his hands down his face. “I want to explain about the gun.” It was as if he read her mind. “I’m sorry, it’s not there to freak you out. Sometimes people at the bar can get a little...out of hand. So a lot of us security guys are packing as a last resort type of thing. Nothing crazy or anything,” he laughs nervously. “No one has ever had to use their gun at the bar.” He adds on.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Lucy states even though it did help with her apprehension. “I shouldn’t have been as jumpy I just have...a bad history with guns. But it’s nothing so don’t worry about it.” She scuffed her shoe on the cobblestone. “Well anyways I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the bar?” Lucy looks up at him.

“Yeah…I guess.”

“Is there something else you needed?”

“Well no I just--,” Natsu makes a noise of frustration. “I don’t know I guess I kinda built up this whole conversation in my head because you seemed so freaked out last night and I didn’t want you thinkin’ I was some psychopath. So now I don’t know what to do because honestly I thought this was going to be an all day thing.”

“You...thought telling me why you carry a weapon would take all day? Just how stupid do you think I am?” she asks in aggravation. Her and Natsu get into a stare down with annoyance clearly pushing them both. 

“What are you doing right now?” Natsu breaks first. 

“I  _ was  _ going to go read in a park,” Lucy says with a satisfied smirk. “That is until a certain person interrupted me.” Natsu whines at her remark and it makes Lucy laugh a little. “Thank you for telling me, seriously...it did freak me out to be honest.” She gave him a small smile before looking around in uncertainty. “So…”

“You hungry?” he cuts in. “Because I could use some food.”

“Ah…” Lucy hesitates. ‘ _ This is becoming too much too fast. No friends, no lovers, no witnesses. _ ’ She looks at him and he has that easy smile on his face that she is quickly coming to trust to her utter horror. “Y-yeah sure I can eat.” She curses herself out in her head, but on the outside Lucy smiles. 

“Yes! Come on there is a great place a few streets over. I hope you like spicy food!” Without thinking Natsu grabs Lucy’s hand and begins to pull her along.

“I can walk myself you know!” she protests.

“Yeah, but this way I know I can’t lose ya in the crowd,” he replies with a smirk. “Besides I’m pretty sure I told you I wouldn’t let you get lost again.” Against her will a blush ran across Lucy’s cheeks at his words.

“N-no you didn’t you weirdo! I was only lost that  _ one time _ anyways! I could have totally figured it out on my own!”

“You don’t have to figure stuff out on your own anymore,” Natsu responds. His tone is so casual and the statement is said with such brutal honesty that Lucy finds herself reeling. “You’re a part of Fairy Tail now and we look out for our own.”

~~~~Later that Night

“Here is the theater I guess if you’re into that kind of thing,” Natsu says while making a face. “And next to that is apparently Cana’s favorite fortune teller. She says that this old toad can divide the future or something.”

“Divine,” Lucy corrects, “and that is super interesting. I have always had an interest in astrology.” The pair stop to look at the front of the closed shop. “Wait...what time is it?”

“Um…” Natsu pulls out his cell to read the time. “Oh whoa it’s like almost nine at night.”

“Didn’t you find me at like one in the afternoon?” she cried out. “How the hell did the whole day get away from us?” Natsu only shrugged before putting his cell back into his pocket. 

“Did you wanna get dinner or something?”

“Natsu,” she whines. “I was going to read my new book today. I won’t be able to get to it until next week now since I have to work the rest of this week.” Lucy pouts and kicks a pebble into the river.

“Let me walk you home then you nerd.” Natsu laughs at her indignant response before turning to head off towards the apartment. As they walk Lucy mutters insults under her breath and Natsu laughs them off. “Hey, hey be careful what are you doing?” Natsu questions when Lucy jumps up onto the wall around the river.

“Oh quit being such a worrywort I’m fine,” Lucy retorts as she walks along the wall. 

“I’m not jumping in after you if you fall into the water then,” he quips. Lucy sticks her tongue out at him in response. “Oh? What happened to flippin’ me the bird?”

With a laugh and snort Lucy looks at Natsu, “that’s what you get for staring at someone. It was creepy.”

“Hey! I am  _ not  _ creepy!”

“Well I didn’t know you that well when I started, but I can say for certain now that you are in fact  _ super creepy _ !”

“Well that’s just rude! See if I ever help you get around town again,” Natsu mutters.

“Yeah right you already promised to never let me get lost again remember?” Lucy hops down from the hall and lands next to him. “Besides it’s too late we are already here,” they both turn to look at the apartment building. They could see Lucy’s landlady walking around in her apartment on the lower floor. “So thanks for showing me around today. It was--it was nice.” Natsu only nods his head as she moves towards the door. “So...see you tomorrow?”

“Sure see ya at work,” Natsu replies. He lingers at the door for a few moments longer waiting to make sure she got up to her apartment and there were no problems. When he saw her light come on it was his cue to head out.

~~~~Natsu

“Happy! I’m back,” Natsu calls out as he closes the door to his small home. A familiar meow replies back from the bedroom upstairs. A blue-grey cat weaves its way between the poles of the railing before jumping down and landing on Natsu’s shoulders.

“Meow,” the cat says.

“I was out with that new bartender all day,” Natsu replies. “She’s a real weirdo and there is something about her I can’t pin down.”

“ _ Meow _ ,” the cat says suggestively.

“I do  _ not  _ like her!” Natsu protests while Happy gives him a cheeky grin. “What is with you and Gray?” he says in exasperation. “Whatever! I’m going to bed goodnight,” he stomps off to his room leaving his smiling cat behind on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short this time! I might be able to update again this week to make up for it.
> 
> Reviews are always welcomed; thanks.


	4. Complicated Situations

~~~~Lucy

“Thank you have a good night!” Mira calls out to the last customer. “Thanks for your hard work tonight Lily! That clever shot of yours is gaining real popularity.”

“Thanks Mira,” Lucy says with a smile. “I didn’t think we’d run out of sambuca though. Sorry about that.”

“Ah man I wanted to try that shot!” Natsu whines as he slouches over the bar. Elfman and a cook named Max laugh at him.

“Maybe next time!” Cana crows as she walks up behind him and smashes his face into her chest. Natsu let’s out an undignified screech as he tries to claw his way out of her grasp. “Lily here is quickly becoming the star bartender! You’ll have to be quicker than that to get her attention,” with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle she lets go of his head. 

“Cana!” Mira scolds. “Why don’t you go clean something instead of harassing poor Natsu.”

“ _ Whaaa _ ? Mira it’s not my night!” Cana slurs back.

“Yeah go clean something Cana,” Natsu mocks before sticking his tongue out at her.

“You can clean something too you know,” Lucy says menacingly behind Natsu. “Considering you almost cost me another sale tonight it’s the least you can do.” Natsu turned around to make a retort, but when he saw how scary Lucy looked it died on his lips.

“Aye!” he manages to whimper before darting off and dragging Cana along with him. Cana, for her part, merely laughed like the madwomen she was and went along with it.

“It’s nice to see you getting along with everyone,” Mira says as she comes up next to Lucy. 

“You think so, huh?” Lucy says quietly. Lucy grabs the plates from the bar and moves them into the tub before grabbing a rag to wipe everything down with. Mira watches her closely while she restocks the bottles on the shelves and fridge. Everyone works in a relative silence while a rock station plays on the radio. Wakaba and Macao help haul the dirty dishes away while Lucy and Mira finish closing down the bar. Max is quickly doing the kitchen and getting ready to do inventory while everyone else begins to stack chairs and shut off lights.

“How do you like it here Lily?” Mira asks suddenly.

“Huh? Fine--fine why do you ask Mira?” Lucy sputters. 

“Ah no reason!” Mira replies brightly. “It’s only been a week and already you seem to be fitting in so well here with everyone. It’s amazing really, considering we haven’t had any new employees in over ten months.”

“A-ah…” Lucy manages. “Well it’s pretty easy to work here.” Before Mira could ask anything else too personal for Lucy’s taste the front door bangs open.

“Damn wind!” Gray snaps as he shuts the door quickly. “Yo,” he says when he turns around to face the room. A few people nod and wave as he walks back to the stairs. Lucy waves before turning back to the dishes. Everyone goes back to cleaning when the back door near the storage room bangs open. 

“I wish they would stop slamming my doors,” Mira sobs. 

“Hey,” it was Laxus coming down the hall and turning to go up the stairs. Lucy was a little curious as to why people were coming in on their days off, but she tried to put it out of her mind by finishing the last of the dishes. As she was hauling the last of the plates to the kitchen the owner came out from his office.

“Natsu! Come here for a moment,” Makarov shouts from the second floor. Natsu grunts something that Lucy can’t hear before heading up the stairs as well. She doesn’t stick around to listen and instead walks back into the kitchen.

“Hey Lily,” Max says with a smile. “Good night?”

“Yeah it was actually for a Wednesday. You need any help back here?”

“Nah I’m almost done with the inventory...wait actually could you possibly go to the dry storage and take out a couple heads of garlic? I forgot I need to chop those tonight for the special tomorrow.”

“Yeah sure Max, let me put these dishes back and I can do that!” Lucy agrees as she stacks the plates next to the glasses. “Be right back!”

Finally the dining area was closed down and the register was being counted by Mira. Everyone was milling about waiting for the final count to be done as Lucy jogged back to the storage room to find garlic.

~~~~Natsu

“Make sure she gets home safely before coming back to the meeting you got me boy?” the old man nags.

“Yeah, yeah you don’t gotta tell me twice gramps,” Natsu grumbles. 

“The draw is counted master!” Mira sing-songs as she enters the office. “I’ll go to the bank tomorrow morning to get the deposits all taken care of,” she hands the drawer to him with a smile. “Everything is all done except for a few kitchen things.”

“That’s good, Max doesn’t have to be at this meeting anyways so you can tell him he’s fine to take his time.” Makarov twirls his mustache around his finger as he appears in deep thought. “I thought I told you to walk Lily home Natsu?” he growls suddenly. “Get going!”

“Fine,” Natsu snaps back. “Don’t know why you aren’t making the ice princess do it though. He’s the one that lives closer to her.”

“Stop complain’ and get moving flamebrain,” Gray teases. “I don’t wanna be here all night.”

“Tsk whatever,” Natsu mumbles as he moves out of the room.

“I think Lily went to the storage room to grab something!” Mira calls out after him. Natsu waves in response before heading down the stairs.

‘ _ Stupid Gray lookin’ so smug...why do I gotta walk the weirdo home anyways? She can take care of herself _ ,’ he thinks in irritation as he walks to the storage area.

“Where the hell is the garlic?” he heard Lily whine. With a mischievous grin and a slight snicker Natsu gets an idea. “Oh come on!” Lily pouts from inside the storage room. The door was slightly ajar and Natsu could see her reaching up to grab at the bag of garlic. 

As quietly as he could, Natsu slips into the room and sneaks up behind her with a twinkle in his eye. “Got ya!” he whispers maniacally before reaching for her arm to turn her around. He did not even get close enough to brush her skin before Natsu found himself lying on the floor with a baton shaped impression on his face.

“N-Natsu?!” she yelps. “What the hell are you doing!” 

He looks up to see that Lily has her retractable baton out and pointed at him. He was going to make a snippy retort when he saw an almost animalistic fear in her eyes. Natsu sat up and rubbed at his face and whined when he found that it hurt a lot more than he initially thought. When he stood up Lily tensed and tried to subtly back away. “Trying to be funny, but I guess it didn’t work huh?” His tone was light, but neither of them relaxed.

“Look I’m sor--” when he reached out to comfort her the panic that she was in doubled. “Shit, it’s okay look see…” he steps back. He pressed his back up against the door and held his hands up. ‘ _ What the fuck is going on here? _ ’

At this she visibly relaxes and lowers her weapon. “Sorry...sorry I overreacted. Oh Natsu your face,” her hand without the weapon comes up, but she stops short. “I--I didn’t me-mean to...to--” tears well up in her eyes and her weapon drops from her hand completely. 

“Oh shit, no shit hey it’s okay,” Natsu hesitantly moves forward. “There’s no need to cry. See? Look at me I’m totally fine. As if that tiny thing could hurt me!” he puffs out his chest in mock bravado. ‘ _ It actually hurt like a bitch, but I don’t think she needs to know that. _ ’ He smiles brightly at her instead and waits to see what she’ll do next.

With skeptical eyes she assess him from top to bottom. Whatever she saw must have been good enough because she finally reached out fully and brushed her fingers over the now bruise on Natsu’s face. “Oh Natsu...I’m so so sorry. Your face is swelling up,” tears threaten to fall again. Natsu didn’t want her to cry again so he did the first thing he thought of that could possibly stop them. “Wh-what are you doing?” she squeaks as he wraps her up in a hug. 

“I’m fine don’t worry okay?” Natsu murmurs instead of answering her question. “I kinda deserved it anyway.” At his words it felt like the last of the tension was released from her muscles and she practically falls into the embrace. “Here let me just…” Natsu moves to help Lily towards one of the crates. “You needed garlic right?”

“Yes, well Max needs the garlic not me,” she says in a daze.

“Okay you just wait right here and I’ll be back,” Natsu grabs the bag of garlic and sprints out of the room. He avoids the curious stares from his friends as he rushes into the kitchen.

“What the hell took you--oh Natsu? Is that for me?” Max asks in confusion.

“Yeah here you go,” Natsu tosses the bag at him.

“What the heck happened to your face?” Instead of answering Natsu only glares at him before leaving in a huff. “What an idiot,” Max mutters to himself before turning back to his cutting board. 

Avoiding the questioning glances again, Natsu returns to find Lily exactly where he left her. “Come on, let's get you home.” He picks up her baton and holds it out to her. Lily just stares at it still in a daze.

“S-sorry the um, the adrenaline is wearing off and I can’t seem to stand.” She grabs the baton and holds it lightly in her hands. “Thanks,” she mumbled without looking at him. “I’ll leave soon.”

“Come on it’s getting bad out there and it’s late. Let me take you home,” Lily flinches. 

“It’s fine I got it,” she stands up finally and brushes the back of her pants off. “I’d be more worried about your face. You should put some ice on it,” she stores her weapon away before looking up at Natsu. “I can get back just fine on my own. I’m sure you’re tired too.”

Before he can protest Lily bolts from the room and down the hall towards the side exit. “Have a good night Natsu!” she called over her shoulder before shutting the door behind her.

“What the fuck just happened?” Natsu sputters. “ _Oi_! Wait--shit! I’m going to get into so much trouble!” he rushes to the door and throws it open. The wind is howling and the smell of the storm is pungent. “Hey!” he calls out, but it was too late. Natsu could no longer see her. “Well damn,” he says darkly as he shuts the door again and locks it.

Trudging up the stairs back to the office Natsu thinks about the ass-chewing he is about to receive from the master. “Oh Natsu? Is Lily home safe?” 

“Ah...about that…”

“What the hell happened to your face flamebrain?” Gray asks.

“There was a bit of a misunderstanding and she wanted to go home by herself.”

“Did you hit on her Natsu?” Gray asks with a laugh. “By the looks of it she said no.”

“Can it you prick,” Natsu growled. “No I did  _ not  _ hit on her. But she sure as fuck got a good swing on me.”

“So you let her go home by herself in this weather?” it was Mira. She walked into the office with a stack of papers and a frown. “Natsu how could you?” she asked, clearly upset. 

Natsu made an exasperated noise and threw his hands up in the air, “I’m sorry! I realize that I fucked up okay? Cut me some slack.”

“Master?” everyone turned to see Ezra at the door with Elfman and Laxus behind her. “Is everything alright?”

With a final glare directed at Natsu the master pushed past the topic. “Yes, yes it’s fine. What have you got?”

“Well we weren’t able to get any more information out of that Twilight minion that you picked up from--what’s her name again?”

“Lily Herschel,” Mira offers.

“Right from Herschel-san’s place. He is rotting in a cell at the moment, but if we can’t get anything else about this kidnapping ring we’ll have to let him go. Attempted theft doesn’t carry enough weight.” Ezra looks down at her phone for a moment. “Jellal is working on tracking down a lead with the scouting teams we have out, but they are located so far out that it is proving difficult to communicate.”

“Anyone know anything else?” the master asks. Everyone makes sounds of disappointment at the realization there are no new leads.

“Ezra what’s this lead that lover boy has?” Natsu finally asks.

With a secretive smirk and a devilish twinkle in her eye she says, “someone defected from the Jose faction and it seems they might be willing to talk. With the right persuasion that is,” she states. The whole room goes into an uproar at the news. “Silence!”

“Ezra how could you keep that fact to yourself?!” Natsu counters.

“It isn’t a sure thing yet!” she snaps back. “There isn’t anything anyone here can do currently. You’ll be fine Natsu just keep on picking up Twilight Orge goons and beat whatever information you can outta them. The more we learn the better prepared we’ll be in the future.”

“We can at least surmise that the kidnapping ring has taken root here in Magnolia,” Mira cuts in.

“Already there are rumors goin’ around of girls disappearing from the streets. Mostly in the lower rent areas,” Elfman adds. 

“Tsk and we can’t seem to catch them in the act,” Cana seethes. “Master we might have to double our patrols.”

“I agree with Cana,” Laxus says. “If they’re already taking people from our town then we might be the next major target. We gotta deter them somehow.”

“Mhm…” the master murmurs quietly. “Indeed, but that means everyone has to pull doubles. Ezra what’s the special council have to say about our goings on?”

“Dranbolt is as annoying as ever,” she sighs and runs her hand down her face. “But for the most part they are begrudgingly accepting that they cannot combat this problem alone. Still,” she pauses. “I wouldn’t do anything too crazy,” she eyes both Gray and Natsu.

“Oi why you lookin’ at me?” Gray asks in annoyance. “Flamebrain over there is the one that gets too excited.”

“What was that you ice princess?” Natsu says with a scowl. 

“Boys!” Cana cuts them off. “Knock it off. Anyways we already have Freed, Bixlow, and Ever out doing patrols. We need to get some kind of schedule worked out to keep the town people safe.”

“Oh! Here you go!” Mira says with a smile. “I kind of had a feeling this was going to happen so I created new schedules to include the doubles.” She walks around the room and passes out papers from her stack. “Ezra any way you can send out a memo about this meeting to our scouting and information teams?”

“Mhm, yeah it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle. But it will take at least a week to reach them. Since we can’t use our phones at all.”

“Alright it’s been a long day everyone clear out!” the master bellows before grabbing his pipe. “And Natsu.”

“Huh?”

“Finish the task I gave you earlier,” he says with a hard look.

“I was already going to do that anyway you old fart,” he quips and stuck out his tongue. 

~~~~Lucy

_ “Let me take her home,” it was the familiar voice.  _

_ “Not yet,” her father remarks. It wasn’t exactly a no answer, but it was going to protect Lucy for another day. “Have you got the information I require?” _

_ “Yes here is the paperwork. As for my payment?” the voice is oily and it makes Lucy’s skin crawl just to hear it. _

_ “My secretary has the check. Now leave I have other things to do,” Lucy’s father says forcefully. Just in time Lucy is able to dive behind some curtains as the two men exit the study.  _

_ “It’s going to be so fun breaking you apart…” the voice hissed in her ear. _

“No stop!” Lucy jolts awake. The sheets bunch up around her waist as the wind knocks against the window. Lucy looks outside and sees that a storm has in fact broken out across the town. With a groan she rolls over and throws the covers back over her head. The memories from years past float through her mind keeping her awake. “Ugh…” she groans before throwing off the covers and standing up. Looking over at the clock she saw that it was only two in the morning and seeing as how it took her almost two hours to fall asleep Lucy’s running on an hour and a half worth of sleep. 

Suddenly a pinging sound comes from the direction of her window. “Is it hailing?” she says. She crawls to her window to look back outside, “Natsu?!”

“Oi! I thought I saw a light on!” he shouts up from the street. 

“It’s pouring outside are you crazy?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Gramps was pissed I didn’t walk you home!”

“Just...hold on!” she pulls back inside and shut the window before sprinting to the front door. Rushing down the stairs and to the entrance Lucy throws open the door and ushers the very wet security guard into the building. “You must be some kind of idiot,” Lucy whines. “Come on before you ruin the carpet.”

“Thanks it is pretty bad out there,” Natsu says with a laugh.

“Keep it down knucklehead!” Lucy whispers harshly. Natsu has the good sense to at least look sheepish. Once back inside the apartment Lucy says, “go take a bath before you catch a cold. I’ll see if I have anything that could possibly fit you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Natsu protests. His argument is weakened, however, when a small shiver runs through his body. “I’m fine.”

“That was super lame Natsu,” Lucy chuckles. “And it’s no problem. Just toss out your wet clothes and I’ll run them through the dryer.”

“You’re the best!” Natsu beams before shucking off his shoes and shirt.

“Don’t undress out here dummy!”

“What?” he argues. “You know you wanted a look,” he wiggles his eyebrows at her before flexing. With a scowl and a noise of disagreement Lucy walks away from him. She hears him laugh as he walks towards her bathroom and shut the door.

In the kitchen Lucy puts on the kettle and grabs out a box of cookies. Only when she hears the water start running and the door open and close again does she go back into the main room. She scoops up the wet clothes, walks back into the kitchen and straight to the dryer. Now on the hunt for something big enough for Nastu to wear while he waits. From the bottom of her bag she found an old pair of sweatpants and a college shirt. “Natsu there are clothes outside of the door,” Lucy shouts. She got nothing in response except for a contented grunt. 

The kettle began to whistle and Lucy rushes over to turn off the stove. She pours herself a peppermint tea and munches on a cookie while she waits for the dryer to go off. She hears the bathroom door open and close again. A few minutes later Natsu enters the kitchen to find her sitting at the table staring at the dryer. “So about these clothes…” Natsu begins. Lucy turns her head to look and barks out a laugh. “A little tight don’t ya think?”

The pants didn’t even reach his ankles while the shirt was a midriff at best on his torso. Lucy laughs so hard tears form in the corner of her eyes. Natsu scowls at her before looking at the dryer, still twenty minutes to go. “You look ridiculous.”

“Thanks,” he says dryly. He swipes a cookie from the box and begins to chew on it. Lucy continued to stare at him with a grin. “Take a picture it’ll last longer,” he grumbles as he sits down at the table. They share a silence as they both continue to eat cookies and wait for the dryer. 

“I’m sorry about your face,” Lucy finally says.

“It’s alright you don’t have to keep apologizing. It was my fault,” Natsu sighs. He stands up and moves to grab the other cup that Lucy left out on the counter. He pours some tea for himself and sits back down. “I’ll get outta your hair as soon as my clothes dry.”

“Oh no Natsu it’s so cold outside. You’re going to get sick if you go back out there,” Lucy hesitates. “You can um, you can stay here tonight,” her voice was barely a whisper.

“Oh come on anyone can see the thought of me staying here makes you uncomfortable,” Natsu counters.

“Th-that’s not true!” she stutters. A blush spread across her face as she tries to argue his point. ‘ _ Am I afraid of Natsu? _ ’ She had used to be such a friendly and open person. Being affectionate with her friends used to be such a normal thing that even after everything that has happened, Lucy still craved that type of intimacy with others.

“Don’t worry about me I’ll be fine,” he says with an easy smile. Thinking back on it Lucy wonders if there was any reason to really distrust Natsu. “I don’t want to end up having you hate me. That would suck,” his words brought Lucy back to the present.

“I-I don’t hate you,” she says. “And you should stay here. It’s late and cold and we both work tomorrow, right?”

“I don’t want to put you out…” Natsu says.

“I have a couch, you’re not putting me out,” Lucy argues. The dryer dings and they both look over at it. “Go get changed and I’ll pull out my extra blankets.”

“Um…”

“It’s fine really,” she says. “Go on.” She leaves the room before he can argue further and instead goes to grab the two new blankets she bought the other day from the cabinet. Natsu walks by her with his clothes and gives her a hesitant look before going back into the bathroom. Lucy busies herself with setting up the couch and trying to calm down.

‘ _ Nothing is going on. I’m just being friendly...even though I’m not supposed to be making friends _ ,’ Lucy begins to spiral when a warm hand lands on her shoulder.

“Earth to weirdo can you hear me?” Natsu asks. “What are you spacing out for? Tired or something?”

“Y-yes just tired I guess,” Lucy laughs weakly. “Sorry, it's not much but the blankets should be warm.”

“Thanks you really didn’t have to do this.”

“Of course I did. Now go to sleep I’m exhausted.” They both lay down and Lucy finds that dropping off into sleep came much easier.


	5. The New Abnormal

~~~~Natsu; The next day

“Mhm…” Natsu moans as he stretches out his limbs. “Oi, Happy where are ya?” Natsu asks with a yawn.

“Huh? Happy? What kind of nickname is that?” at the sound of her voice Natsu shoots upright. He found Lily in the kitchen standing by her stove cooking. “I guess it’s better than weirdo. Seriously why don’t you just use my name?” she chides. 

“What?” Natsu says stupidly. 

“Happy? You know the new nickname you have for me apparently,” she clarifies.

“Happy isn’t a nickname it’s my cat,” Natsu say dumbfounded.

“Cat?”

“Yeah.”

“You have a pet cat?”

“Happy is my friend not a pet,” he pouts. 

“So you called me by your cat’s name then?” an amused look crosses her face. “Now who is the weirdo.”

“Hey I ain’t the weirdo!” Natsu complains before standing up. “Besides I wasn’t calling you Happy I forgot where I was for a minute. That’s all.”

“Mhm...well breakfast is almost done. I think I have an extra toothbrush if you wanna use it. Look under the sink.”

“Seriously? Thanks I’ll be back,” Natsu heads back into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Once he shuts the door Natsu lets out a sigh, ‘ _ what the hell am I doing here? _ ’ This was not the kind of person he was, spending the night somewhere other than his house or the guild. He brushes his teeth as a few old memories linger on from his dream.

_ Blood covered the whole room. There wasn’t an inch of space not painted in the metallic smelling color. Gray was in the corner dry heaving with Ezra trying desperately not to do it herself. Natsu stood in the middle of the room in absolute shock. “We should have been quicker.” _

_ “Natsu…” Ezra starts, but he doesn’t let her finish the thought. _

_ “We should have been quicker!” he screams. “Bisca...Al...they should have waited for us! This isn’t a victory!” Tears ran freely down his face. “This isn’t how we were supposed to win…” _

With a blink the images disappeared as quickly as they came. Natsu hasn’t realized that his grip on the sink was about to crack it until he heard a small pop. “Shit,” he grumbles. He finishes brushing his teeth and exits the bathroom.

~~~~Lucy

Lucy hums quietly to herself as she finishes off the bacon and eggs. She hears the sink run as she sets out the plates and silverware. It was all cheap stuff bought at the local grocer, but it worked just as well as fine china. Natsu walks into the kitchen with a grin.

“Thanks my mouth was feeling gross,” he says.

“It was smelling gross, too,” Lucy quips. She laughs at the pouty face Natsu pulls at the comment. “Hey the swelling is going down,” she reaches out to brush the bruise on his cheek. Some kind of look passes over his face when her fingers probed the wound. “Is everything okay?” she asked worried. 

“Yeah it’s fine,” his voice was a little gruff, but Lucy didn’t know him well enough to call him out on the lie. “Smells good in here,” he says, back to his normal self. “You didn’t have to cook anything.”

“I wanted to, besides I love to cook,” Lucy let’s the lie go and eases into this new topic of conversation.

“Don’t let Macao hear that!” he laughs. “He’ll trick you into kitchen duty for a month.”

“I wouldn’t mind helping out back there every now and again,” Lucy admits. She scrunches up her nose in thought, “but maybe not for a whole month.” They both sit down and Lucy pours out some orange juice. They eat in silence for a while until it started to make Lucy uncomfortable, so she blurted out the first thing she could think of. “Can I meet your cat?”

Natsu laughs, “what? Happy? Yeah sure I guess.” He shrugs his shoulders and looks down at his plate. “He doesn’t really do well with new people though. I mean he’s just shy I guess.”

“That’s okay, me too,” Lucy smiles.

“Yeah right,” Natsu snorts. “You are anything but shy.” Lucy quirks and eyebrow at him in confusion. “I mean...well for starters you knocked out not one, but two bad guys within your first week of moving here. Plus you managed to impress the master and he is not an easily impressed old dude. Also somehow you managed to become friends with ice for pants--which I will never understand by the way he is a prick--and like all the girls at the bar. This is your second week here.”

Lucy leans back in her chair in thought, “I...I didn’t think um, I don't think _friends_ is the right word for it. I mean we’re coworkers sure, but I don’t know.”

“Of course we’re friends,” Natsu looks at her in earnest. “We’ve all been friends this whole time!” he looks proud at his declaration. Lucy flinches internally and chides herself for letting it get to this point. 

“Well that is nice to know,” she smiles weakly. Lucy finished off her eggs and orange juice before standing up to clear her dishes. Natsu follows suit and moves behind her towards the sink.

“Let me since you cooked and all,” Natsu gently nudges Lucy to the side.

“Thanks, but at least let me dry,” she grabs the towel and waits for him. They worked in companionable silence until the last dish is dried and put away. “Thanks for checking on me Natsu. And for helping with the dishes.”

“Thanks for letting me crash at your place,” he says back with a smile. “And feeding me, drying my clothes, and letting me borrow a toothbrush.” He looks at his feet for a moment, “I can pay you back for that.”

“What? No,” Lucy snorts. “It came in a pack of two. It’s fine.”

“Alright if you say so. Well I should head out, gotta go check on the cat ya know?”

“Mhm,” Lucy says with a nod.

“See you at the bar later.”

“Yup! Bye Natsu.” Lucy waves as she watches him walk down the stairs and then out onto the street below. She waves at him from the window and he smiles back at her, it was such an open smile that Lucy found herself to be a little jealous of it. 

~~~~Lucy; 2 Weeks Later

“Another round down here sweetheart!”

“Aye what’s a guy gotta do to get another beer?!”

“Lucy there’s food in the back!”

The bar was just as crazy as the first Saturday that Lucy worked. She was running and weaving in between people trying to clean up glasses and dishes. Mira was pouring so many shots they couldn’t keep up. Reedus was going insane with the number of times he has already changed out the keg to the new beer he found. Juvia and Lisanna were on a quick break to eat and refuel for the second half of their set. 

“Hey hands off!” Lucy turns her head in time to see Cana smack the wandering hands of some creep. 

“Cana!”

“It’s fine!” the woman shouts back before wiggling her way through the crowd. “Some people,” she huffs.

“Men,” Lucy agrees. Cana laughs before grabbing a couple of pint glasses and following Lucy back to the sink. “Tonight is so busy!” 

“Yeah it always happens like this when Reedus brings out a new beer. I swear it’s like these people can’t go out to breweries themselves.”

“Lily! Cana!” the women turn to see Gray walking up to them with Juvia hanging on his arm. “Stay behind the bar for a sec, okay? You too Juvia,” he pries his arm from hers. 

“But Gray-sama!” Juvia pouts. Cana rolls her eyes and Lucy laughs as they both grab the teary bluenette and drag her behind the counter.

“Thanks,” Gray offers them a smirk. “ _ Oi _ flamebrain! Do it!” he starts to jog over to the pinknette.

“Don’t tell me what to do you ice princess!” Natsu snaps back before grabbing some guy by the collar of his shirt. The guy yells and turns to swing on Natsu, but Gray got there in time to deflect the blow. The bruise on Natsu’s face has finally gone away and Lucy would hate to see him with a fresh one so soon after, but there was no stopping those two when it came to fighting.

A huge fight soon broke out and all of the guys back in the kitchen had to come out to help break it up. Reedus even jumped in to block a few guys who tried to crawl over the bar. Cana was laughing maniacally while Juvia was too busy watching Gray. Lucy only huffed in annoyance as she waited for it to die back down. “Um Juvia what’s the reason for this fight?”

“Huh? Oh that first guy was trying to take pictures of Juvia and Lisanna’s underwear on his phone!” An embarrassed blush colored her cheeks, “it was quite humiliating. So Lisanna told Natsu-san and I told Gray-sama about it.”

“Ah okay that is a good reason to start a fight. I thought it was like last week,” Lucy laughs weakly remembering back to how Natsu got his lip split in a ‘I was bored’ fight. The fight finally ended with ten people being thrown out and two of them got banned for life. Mira was looking a little red in the face as she hissed out this life sentence to the two guys. Elfman and Lisanna had to calm her down before she came back to the bar.

Once Juvia and Lisanna began their second set it calmed back down in the bar. Mira went to the kitchen to cool off while Reedus and Lucy ran the bar themselves. “Reedus I’m going to grab more cinnamon from storage real quick!” Lucy shouts over her shoulder and she hops over the bar. 

“Okay!” he shouts back without looking at her. He was in the middle of a conversation with two very pretty women, so Lucy knew he’d be fine without her for a few minutes. She walks back to the storage area and sits down in a crate.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Oh! Natsu,” Lucy chastises. “You startled me.”

“Don’t punch me in the face again,” he says in mock fear. He throws his hands up and everything.

“I might if you keep on making fun of me,” she said without any real venom. “Oh Natsu your face,” Lucy stands back up. “Can’t you go one week without fighting? Give your lips a chance to heal.” She grabs a napkin out of her apron pocket and wipes away the thin line of blood. 

“Aw come on it’s no fun here without a fight or two,” Natsu says with a smile. “Ow!” he whimpers as he gingerly touches his lips. His fingers come away covered in fresh blood. A stony silence falls over them as they both stare at it. Lucy is able to shake it off first.

“Told you so,” she said weakly. She brings the napkin up to his face again and pats away the new blood. “Here use my chapstick. It might help keep it sealed enough.” She pulls out her chapstick and hands it to him.

With a wicked grin and a devilish glint in his eye Natsu grabs it. “Wouldn’t this be like an indirect kiss?” He laughs maniacally when Lucy blushes fiercely and tries to grab it back. “Nope too late!” he says as he swipes it over his lips.

“You are such a child!” Lucy screeches before snagging the tube back and shoving it angrily into her pocket. “Move,” she barks as she grabs him by his scarf and swings him around. “You’re standing in my way.” Lucy pulls a new thing of cinnamon down from the shelf and opens the door to the storage room.

Natsu lightly grabs her wrist and pulls her back into the room with him. She lifts her head up to look at him and he looks down at her. Natsu has almost half a foot on Lucy so she had to crane her neck back far to see him. That same look she saw for the first time in her kitchen was back as he stared down at her. “Thanks,” his voice is a little too rough and it was starting to do funny things to Lucy. 

She’s only known him for four weeks and yet he somehow managed to get closer to her than anyone else in the past several years. “N-no problem,” she replies. Then just like that he grins at her and the moment is gone. They both walk back out into the main area to finish off the night.

“Good job everyone!” Mira says as she finishes counting the drawer. “We did really well tonight!”

“I’m starving!” Lisanna whines as she leans against the bar next to her brother.

“We could go to the diner?” Cana offers. A round of approval goes through the bar at the idea. “Lil stop wiping down tables. It’s all clean,” Cana scolds Lucy. “Come on, let's go eat!”

“I’m actually pretty tired. I think I’ll just head home tonight,” Lucy brushes off another invite with the group.

“Come on girl you say that like _every_ time,” Cana huffs. “Plus you hardly ever drink it’s like you don’t wanna have fun!” Gray walks up next to Cana.

“You comin’ Lily?” he asks.

“No she’s _tired_ ,” Cana answers for her.

“Again? You work too hard. This job isn’t that serious,” Gray said.

“I know, I know, but call me an old soul,” Lucy tries again. 

“I’ll walk her home,” Natsu says as he comes up to the group with Lisanna trailing behind him. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“Aw Natsu that’s no fun either,” Lisanna pouts.

“Y-yeah Natsu you should go. I’ll be fine really it’s not that far.” Mira calls out that everything was locked up and they could all leave. People start heading towards the door murmuring in excitement for food. “Maybe next time,” Lucy smiles before heading towards the door, too.

A few others protest her leaving, but ultimately they all let her go on her way. ‘ _ It’s better this way, _ ’ she thinks bitterly. Lucy walks along the river’s edge and enjoys the warm night air.

“You sure do move fast for someone so tiny,” a familiar voice intones.

“Natsu,” Lucy chides. “I told you I’m fine. You should go eat with everyone else. You are literally always hungry.”

Natsu catches up to her and starts walking next to her. He has his hands resting behind his head as he stares up at the sky. “Nah it’s cool. Besides if I need to find them I can just text them. Also I know where the diner is you weirdo, I took you there once.”

“Y-yeah I guess you did,” Lucy stutters then blushes. She just then realized how much time she has been spending with Natsu in the last two weeks. They continue on in silence along the river. A fisherman calls out to Lucy to be careful and she waves at him in acknowledgment. Once at the apartment Lucy hops down with the help of Natsu and opened the front door. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Natsu grins at her. “See you later.”

“Bye Natsu,” Lucy walks inside and shuts the door. She trudges up the stairs and opens the apartment door. Lucy walks over to the floor lamp and clicks it on before heading over to the window. Just like the last few times he’s done it now Natsu is waiting down on the street to make sure she is inside safely. She waves at him and with a toothy grin he takes off down the street. “I am in some serious shit,” she mumbled to herself. 

Really she should have known better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are quickly catching up with what I've already written...  
> I need to write more *sighs*  
> Review if you can please :)


	6. It's Time to Reconsider

~~~~Lucy; 2 Months Later

“Oi Lil! We need another round!” a regular named Daniel shouts from his table. 

“Okay!” Lucy says over her shoulder as she maneuvers around the floor. It was another crazy Saturday night at Fairy Tail. Lucy was proud that after only working here a month Mira and Makarov trusted her enough to promote her to head bartender. Mira was able to fall back into her role as a manager more than a bartender and is happy about it. 

Reedus already had her next order lined up at the counter. Out of the corner of her eye Lucy saw Laxus talking with someone called Nab. Another employee that apparently has been out running around Fiore for the owner. They looked tense, but Lucy didn’t want to pry.  _ ‘Wouldn’t want them looking to closely at me either…’  _ she thinks as she grabs dirty glasses and checks on the tables near the stage. 

“Lily!” Cana shouts from across the room. She turns to see both Cana and Laki coming up to her.

“What’s up girls?” she shouts back.

“Master asked for you! I’ll cover your tables!” Laki replies. “You should head up to the office.”

“Oh...okay,” Lucy says hesitantly. They exchange a few more words before Lucy walks toward the back. She stops by the front door where she finds Freed and Bixlow checking IDs. “Hey where did Natsu go?”

“You need your boyfriend for somethin’?” Bixlow asks with a salacious tone.

“Shut up Bix. He went to help with some kitchen stuff. They got swamped hard. Anything I can help you with?” Freed asks kindly. A couple of ladies at the door were pouting that Lucy had taken his attention away from them. 

“No, no I am on my way up to Makarov’s office for some reason,” Lucy says.  _ ‘I guess I was hoping Natsu would go with me. But that was a stupid thought anyways.’ _ She waved goodbye and continued on to the office. At the door Lucy hesitates before knocking lightly.

“Come in!” came the commanding voice of the owner.

“Y-you wanted to see me?” Lucy stutters. She mentally curses at the show of weakness and vulnerability that she couldn’t shake.

“Ah Lily-chan! Good to see you! I won’t take too much of your time, I know how it gets out there on Saturdays,” he chuckles. “I just had a quick question and request to make of you. Please take a seat.” Lucy walks into the room and shuts the door quietly behind her. When she is seated the owner just stares at her.

“I was going through some of my records and I was reminded that you have now had two run-ins with people from the Twilight Ogre organization.”

“Is...is that another bar?”

The owner pauses and a funny look crossed his face, “yes it is a rival bar. They tried to rob us and you took that man out with one hit.”

“Oh...right I almost forgot about that. I guess the other one was the guy I hogtied behind the apartment building.”

“Exactly, which leads me to my question. Have you had any other problems with anyone like that since then?”

Lucy is startled by the severity with which Makarov asks this question. “Ah...no, no I haven’t had any run-ins since that second time.”

“Good, good.” Makarov stares at the papers on his desk for a moment. “If it does you know to come to me right?”

“S-sure, my landlady even told me to do that.”

“Alright, okay,” he lets out a troubled sigh.

“Sir...what is this all about?”

“That my dear leads into my request of you.” He shuffles the stack of papers around before pulling out a piece. “Recently there has been a troubling rumor that a kidnapping ring is moving into Magnolia. I’ve heard around town a few girls have actually gone missing.” Lucy’s whole body turns to ice. 

_ ‘No. No, no, no, no, no…’  _ she thinks as that familiar panic seeped into her bones. 

“I wish for you to always be escorted home after a late night shift. And if you must go out at night to please be with someone from the gui--bar the whole time. At least until this is sorted out.” the owner continued to talk, not realizing the panic his words caused. “Do you think you could do that? For me please?”

“I-I um, I don’t really go-go out at night. And Gray already walks part of the way home with me because we l-live in the same direction.”

“Ah I see, well good. I’ll have a word with him to walk you fully home before he goes home then,” the owner smiles at Lucy. “I know this is a lot to ask of such an independent young lady. But it really would make me feel better knowing that you’re safe.” Lucy tried to smile back, the best she could do was a slight grimace. “Well I don’t want to keep you any longer. We still have three hours until close. Have a good night Lily-chan.”

“You...you too,” Lucy stands up in a daze and moves to leave the room. Once out in the hall she slumps against the wall and tries to remember to breathe.  _ ‘This is my fault,’ _ she hears footsteps coming up and it snaps her out of her haze enough to propel her forward and back to work. Lucy walks to the stairs to see that guy Nab coming up them. He nods his head in acknowledgment before heading to the office.

Lucy flees down the stairs and dives back into work. The panic never really went away and she was covered head to toe in a thin sheen of sweat the rest of the night. As Freed and Gray call for the lights to be turned up and Bixlow begins stealing drinks from people Lucy realizes that she hasn’t been paying attention at all.

“Earth to weirdo!” Lucy jumps at the sudden voice in her ear. She turns to see Natsu staring at her with a worried look. “Cana has been callin’ for ya for like twenty minutes. What’s up with you nerd?”

“I-I...I’m just a little distracted,” Lucy says. It was a half truth and it seems that Natsu wasn’t going to brush it off.

“Lily!” Saved by Cana. “Girl what is up with you? I have been yellin’ at you for the past half hour!”

“S-sorry Cana,” she saw Natsu quirk an eyebrow at her stuttering. She curses herself for it again. “I’ll get my tables cleared out.”

“I know that. I’m not worried about you cleaning, I’m worried you hit your head or somethin’. I’m not being crazy right Natsu?”

“Mhm,” he hums in agreement. “Come on,” he grabs Lucy’s wrist and drags her behind him. “Cana be right back. Gonna get some air,” he says over his shoulder. A few of their coworkers either whistle or make suggestive comments. Natsu grumbles in annoyance, but otherwise ignores them. Lucy struggles to keep up behind him as Natsu drags her down the hall towards the back exit. 

The balmy summer air hits Lucy in the face and almost immediately the suffocating feeling she’s had disappears. Natsu takes them a little way down the street and stops in front of a random storefront. Finally he drops her wrist and Lucy rubs at it. “You could have just asked you know.”

“Would you have really come out with me?” he asks with a cheeky grin. Lucy rolls her eyes at him and pouts. “So what’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” she says a little too fast. “It was a crazy night is all. And Makarov told me some troubling news.”

Natsu’s eyes narrow, “what news?”

“Something about a kidnapping ring? He’s gonna talk to Gray about walking me all the way home from now on,” she sighs. “I was so stunned I forgot to tell him I could take care of myself.” Lucy rolls her eyes again, “seriously I will be fine. I’ll talk to the owner with Gray to get that sorted out.”

“You should probably be more cautious if the master is asking you something I wouldn’t go against it.”

“I’m fine Natsu,” Lucy argues.

“Yeahh and you’ll stay that way so long as the ice princess or me is tagging along with you,” he spits back angrily. “This shit is no joke.”

“Natsu if all you’re going to do is argue with me I’m going back inside!” she snaps at him. With an angry huff, Lucy turns on her heels and heads back towards the bar. A slight breeze relieved some of the heat from her face as she starts walking back. Her harem pants rustle against her legs and help ground Lucy a little more. Already she hated fighting with Natsu and that thought caused her more stress.

A slight tingly sensation went down her back just before Natsu caught her wrist. Lucy stopped but refused to turn around. The breeze pushed her braid around and a few strands fall out into her face. “Look I...am sorry.” He still sounded mad. “I can’t help it...this type of stuff it--it puts me on edge.” Lucy finally turns her head to look at him. “I know I can be slightly overprotective--”

“Incredibly overbearing is more like it.”

“Yes, fine,” he agrees with a snarl. “But it’s because--” at this his voice caught and it looked like he didn’t want to finish his sentence.

“Natsu I get it alright? This bar is a real close group of people. And I know that you want me to be one of those people, but you gotta remember I’ve only been here two months.” Lucy sighs and runs a hand down her face. “I’m only passing through, so you don’t have to worry about me like that.” He gave her a funny look before his expression settled on disappointed.

He dropped her wrist and looked down at the ground, “well while you’re here can you at least comply with what gramps is asking of you?” 

Not wanting to argue anymore and finding that she was more exhausted Lucy just says yes. They both walk back into the bar in a tense silence. Cana turned to say something to them both, but one look at them had her stopped cold. Natsu went to the kitchen and Lucy closed down the rest of the bar. No one seemed inclined to pry into what just happened.

Gray had the good sense not to ask about Lucy’s sour mood as they walked to the apartment. At the door they say goodnight and Lucy heads up to her door. She shucks off her shoes and rubs at the sore toes on her left foot. She goes through her usual routine of checking her bag and making sure the place is clear before grabbing her sleepwear. Even though it was pushing three in the morning Lucy decided to take a shower. 

Feeling indulgent after a rough night and fight with Natsu, Lucy decided to light the candles the girls at the bar gave her as housewarming gifts. In the warmth of the water Lucy found herself idly tracing the brand on her left thigh and feeling the phantom pains to go with it. She traced the letters that spelled out her worst nightmare and the permanent reminder of why it shouldn’t matter that Natsu was upset with her. It shouldn’t matter to her at all what other people think of her. But it did and that frustrated her to no end. 

“Ugh!” she shouts at the ceiling before quickly washing her hair and body and getting out. Lucy angrily ran her brush through her hair before braiding it back. She threw on her clothes and stomped out of the bathroom. The summer weather was finally setting in and it was making the apartment stuffy. Lucy decided to open the windows and air it out for a while since she clearly wasn’t going to go to bed. In the kitchen she opened the window and put the kettle on to make tea. _ ‘Maybe I should read for a while?’ _

Thinking better of it Lucy grabbed out the chicken she was going to make tomorrow and a couple of pans. While those heated up on the stove she went to the living room window to throw it open. “ _ Natsu?! _ ”

“Yo,” came his small reply. 

“It’s almost four in the morning you idiot! What are you doing awake and stalking me?”

“Could ask you the same thing,” he chuckled. A vein popped out of Lucy’s forehead and she felt her anger swell anew. “I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said before she could throw something at him. With a heavy sigh she turns from the window and goes to open the door. Once down in the main hall Lucy pauses. She had been alone for so long, even at her past jobs she managed to stay below the radar. 

Being invisible and unknown made it easier to slip away at a moments notice. Talking to people was becoming draining and downright uncomfortable and yet...here she was for the second time about to let an almost stranger into her space. Lucy pushes open the door and finds Natsu standing there waiting for her. No one’s waited for her in her whole life. He smiled a small smile and didn’t move. “You gonna make me stand here with the door open all night?”

This time he beams at her before moving towards her. Lucy steps to the side to let him in, but he stops at the threshold and looks down at her. It really was unfair how much taller he was compared to her. He reaches up and runs a finger across her cheek causing an immediate blush to form. “Water,” he murmurs before pulling away.

“Wh-what?” Lucy asks stupidly. With a small chuckle and that devilish twinkle in his eye, Natsu holds up his hand to show that it was wet. “Oh I-I took a shower.”

“Mhm,” he mumbled before finally walking all the way inside. He starts up the stairs and turns to look at her, “gonna stand there all night with the door open?”

Another blush spreads across her face as she sputters, “oh you-you c-cheeky bastard!” She shuts the door and relocks it before chasing him up the stairs. Natsu laughs at her as he runs up the last of the stairs and straight into the apartment. Lucy quickly follows him into the place and shuts the door with a huff. Without looking at the irritating man on her couch, Lucy walks back into the kitchen and starts preparing the chicken. When the chicken starts to sizzle on the pan and the smell of jasmine rice fills the air a small sigh escapes her lips.

“What are ya doin’?” Natsu walks up behind her and props his head up on her shoulder. 

Internally Lucy is freaking out, but she can’t figure out if it’s because he was too close or too far.  _ ‘This is so _ frustrating _!’  _ All the emotions that working at Fairy Tail were causing inside her head was making Lucy question how much longer she was going to be here. Outwardly however, “some chicken and veggies and rice. To bring as dinner to work.”

“Why? Max and Mira feed us so much,” Natsu questions.

“I don’t feel right taking food and not paying for it Natsu,” Lucy rolls her eyes as she bumps his chin with her shoulder. He pouts but relents to let her move over to the vegetables to start chopping them. Lucy moves effortlessly between checking the chicken and rice and chopping vegetables. “So…” Lucy starts trying to sound casual. “What’s your plan here mister?”

Natsu cocks his head and gives her a weird look, “huh? Plan for what?” 

“It’s like five in the morning!” she says exasperated as she dumps the vegetables in with the chicken. She pulls out a bottle of her homemade teriyaki sauce--something she hasn’t made in at least two years--and dumps that into the pan as well. “There is no way you should be out walking the streets this late at night!”

“Aw, is someone worried about me?” Natsu slides over to give her a goofy grin. Lucy blows a raspberry in his face in annoyance. Natsu laughs before moving back to give her space. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. I just wanted…” he trailed off at the end of his sentence causing Lucy to strain to hear him.

“What?” Lucy snaps at him, still annoyed. “I can’t hear you,” Natsu only mutters whatever he said in response. “Well if you’re not going to use your words like a big boy then I’m not sharing!” she sticks her tongue out at him as she slides past him to the pantry to grab out a few containers.

“I said I just wanted to check on you alright!” he finally grits out. “Now gimme some chicken,” he snatches a piece of chicken right out of the pan and shoves it into his mouth. 

“Manners!”

“Thank you!” he laughs as Lucy chases him out of the kitchen with her spoon. “You’re the best!” he grins back at her before flopping down on the couch. Lucy only sighs before going back to turn off the stove and put away her food. 

_ ‘I’ll clean it tomorrow,’ _ she thinks with a yawn. Lucy closes the window in the kitchen and turns off the lights. She grabs out the blankets from before and turns to throw them at Natsu on the couch.  _ ‘He’s freaking passed out!’ _ she thinks in astonishment. Natsu was piled on the couch in a heap with his scarf still tied around his neck and shoes on his feet. “Unbelievable,” she grumbles before removing his shoes. She takes a nervous glance at his waist to make sure his gun was elsewhere tonight. When she was satisfied that it wasn’t there Lucy moved to unwind the scarf from around Natsu’s neck.

He grunted, but otherwise conceded to her removing the piece of fabric and then rolled over to smash his face into the back of the couch. She throws the blanket over him haphazardly before turning out the last light. Luckily it was still dark out as Lucy finally settled down into bed. She dropped off quickly and didn’t even seem to notice that she forgot to close the last window.


	7. Questions and Answers

~~~~Ezra

“Any news?” Ezra asks her team. Not a single one had anything new to report on any of their open cases. “Damnit!” Ezra curses as she throws her phone across the room. It shatters into tiny pieces and the poor intern goes to fetch the third phone of the month for their boss. As Ezra is contemplating new ways that Gray and Natsu can wrangle out information from any of the Twilight assholes a ding comes from her computer.

**_What’s new?_ **

**_Nothing >:(_ **

**_No one has anymore leads?_ **

**_No, and it seems like TO isn’t doing too much late night activities since the new schedule._ **

**_Have you asked that new girl any questions?_ **

Ezra pauses at this thought.  _ ‘Why would Jellal want me to question that girl?’ _

**_She could know something we don’t since she did take out two of them by herself. If I’m recalling correctly._ ** Came the next message. That was a good point, how did she know what to do?

**_I’ll look into it. How are things on your end?_ **

**_W and I are following a ‘new wind’ as she puts it. I honestly can’t tell it just feels like we’re lost to me._ **

**_Be careful._ **

**_Will do. You as well._ ** _ J.F. has signed off. _

Ezra leaned back in her chair and takes out her ponytail. The stress from this kidnapping ring was making her hair fall out. Not to mention the half a dozen other cases piled up on everyone’s desks. Ezra watched as her team combed through evidence, made calls, and dug up new leads to hopefully bring about an end to some of the cases. Not wanting to be outdone by her underlings Ezra pulls up the database and types in the new hires name. To her complete surprise almost nothing shows up.

**Lily Herschel**

**Age: 20**

**Birthplace: Unknown**

**Birth date: No known date; X767**

**No known affiliations with any criminal organizations**

**No known alias or allies**

**No banking records**

Ezra stared at her screen dumbstruck. Never before had she seen so little information on a person. Hell almost all the other people in the guild had a rap sheet a mile long. Hers wasn’t any prettier, but it still had at least four pages on it the last time she bothered to look at it. No one was this clean. She stood up and grabbed her jacket. “Mack!” she shouts for the intern.

The poor man scurries in with her new phone fully charged and ready to go. He squeaks when Ezra snatches it out of his hand and keeps walking. Without looking back, she says, “hold my calls and cancel that meeting with  Lahar . I’ll be back later.”

“Ms. Scarlet!” the poor man whines as she steps onto the elevator and doesn’t even look at him as the doors close. Tears streamed down his face as the phone on her desk starts to ring.

~~~~Lucy

The bar was, as usual, packed to the rafters with people wanting to drink and sing. Lucy and Laki weaved and dodged all night to make sure they’re customers were happy. Mira was content to let Cana and Laxus run the bar that night while she focused on cooking. Max apparently was out of town for some family thing according to Gray so Lisanna and Romeo were in the kitchen. 

Natsu sat by the door with Evergreen and they both looked positively bored. Every once in a while Natsu would make a face at Lucy and so far it has made her blush every single time. Laki and Gray both laughed at her and that caused her to blush even more. She tried to focus on other things like how amazing Laxus was behind the bar. “I didn’t know you were a bartender,” she says. 

He shrugs his shoulders, “only when I feel like it.” He does a fancy maneuver with a bottle of Jack and a couple of women giggle in appreciation. “I gotta give my fans what they want ya know?” he throws her a wink before moving down the bar. Lucy laughs to herself as she watches the ladies practically leap over the bar. Cana makes an annoyed sound before shoving a couple new pints onto Lucy’s tray. 

“I swear all the men here are a pain in my ass,” she huffs.

“What happened?” Lucy asks as she adjusts her tray on her shoulder.

“Nothing it just seems there are more ladies in here tonight than gentlemen,” she nods down towards Laxus. “I just don’t know how they know when he decides to bartend! Does he post it online or something?” Lucy laughs before giving Cana a sympathetic look. “You suck,” she says with a scoff before smiling.

“I’ll be back,” Lucy says with a laugh. It was shaping up to be a really great night. She should have known better. As Lucy was walking by the front door to give Natsu a hard time a very pretty redhead came storming in. 

“Look what the cat dragged in!” Evergreen crows. “Erza Scarlet in the flesh. What brings you in?”

The redhead--Ezra--throws a hard look at Lucy for a brief moment before answering. “I need to talk to the master for a while.” Without another word she walks off towards the office.

“Jeez what crawled up her ass and died?” Natsu growls. Evergreen shrugs before going back to filing her nails. Lucy on the other hand was starting to feel like there was a very limited amount of time left in Magnolia for her.

~~~~Ezra; Earlier that Day

“So you mean to tell me she hasn’t even talked to you about opening an account?” Ezra asks the bank branch manager.

“N-no Scarlet-san,” he stammers in apprehension. “What is th-this is relation to? Herschel-san has been in a few times with Dragneel-san and Lockster-san when they needed to make deposits or withdrawals.”

Ezra doesn’t think to answer the mans question before she storms out of the bank back into the street. Looking down at the note Mira had given her Ezra heads off towards the apartment of the new girl.

“What do you want?” the landlady asks with a sneer. A few scattered laughs could be heard coming from behind the woman.

“I need to look at the apartment of your latest tennent.”

The landlady blows a smoke ring in Ezra’s face, “why?”

“That is not your concern,” she grits out between clenched teeth. 

“Then I’m afraid her apartment is not  _ your  _ concern.” The landlady gives Ezra a hard stare. “Don’t think I don’t know who you are missy. Tell Makarov he better have a  _ damn  _ good reason for someone from the government to come sniffing around me and my tenants. Especially when that someone happens to be you,” she has a knowing look on her face. With that the door was slammed in Ezra’s face and locked.

“Damnit!” she seethes as she walks around town trying to figure out anything at all about the girl. _ ‘Almost three months she’s been here and not a single problem or incident has occurred since that first day. What is going on here?’ _ Ezra manages to run into Max on his way out of town.

“Mhm...Lily? Not much to say I guess. Super hot, but nothing about her is particularly worrisome. Ezra what’s going on?” Max asks.

“I don’t know but something seems off about her,” Ezra responds. “She has next to no history. Her landlady seems like a real bitch and the bank only knows her name. Hey where are you off to anyways?” she asks suddenly.

“Master has got me running an errand,” he says off-handedly. “Gotta get out to Clover and talk to a few allies out there about surveillance and any new leads for the kidnapping problem.”

“Be careful,” Ezra’s face finally relaxes into a small smile.

“No worries! I’ll be back to the kitchen in a week!” he says brightly before heading off towards the train station. Ezra waves at his retreating figure before finally deciding it was time to go talk to the master.

~~~~Ezra; Present

“What do you actually know about her?” Ezra says with a huff.

“Hardworking and easy on the eyes. What’s there to know?” the master asks between puffs of smoke.

“Like...where did she come from? Why is she here? How did she manage to take out two Twilight Ogre operatives?”

“Ezra-chan you’re going to have all your pretty hair fall out if you keep on going at this rate.”

“I know! Don’t you think I already know that!” she tugs at her locks and a few strands come loose. “The circumstances just seem a little off around her.”

“How do you mean?” the master leans back in his chair and studies her.

“Her arrival coincides with the news of the kidnapping ring popping up here,” she starts to tick things off on her fingers, “she just happens to get an apartment from one of the most notorious underground gamblers who is already highly suspicious of people like me, she gets a job  _ here _ , no banking history or any history for that matter, and yet somehow she is an expert bartender. Which was something we were needing for a while now.”

“What are you driving at Ezra?” he growls.

“Maybe her being here isn’t by happenstance and  _ maybe  _ she has an ulterior motive,” Ezra said. She crosses her arms over her chest and stares the master down.

“Fine Ezra have it your way,” he finally says. “Call her up,” he glares at her, “ _ after _ we close.”

~~~~Lucy

“Gray I just need to grab my other apron and I’ll be ready to go!” Lucy says. She rushes into the kitchen to say goodbye to Lisanna and grab the apron. Once she is back out on the main floor does she realize something is going on. Laxus is practically screaming at that woman--Ezra. Natsu and Gray both looked beyond pissed and Lucy saw that the owner was standing at the top of the stairs smoking. 

She quickly walks over to Laki and Evergreen to find out what’s going on. “Apparently Ezra needs to ask you a few questions,” Evergreen intones. 

“What?” she squeaks. “Why me?”

“Don’t know…” Laki says with a pensive look on her face. “It’s probably nothing!” she tries to sound cheerful.

“Un Laxus is practically red in the face, I don’t think Ezra has anything nice to say,” Evergreen counters.  Lucy wants to crawl into a hole and disappear. Without warning she walks over to the red-faced Laxus and puts her hand on his arm.

“What the fuck is your problem--! Lily?” he looks down at the smaller blonde. “Tsk go home Lily. Gray!” 

“She is not leaving until I talk to her,” Ezra interjects. 

“Laxus that’s enough. I’m sure Lily-chan is confused and tired so just let Ezra do her job. Everyone else go home...that’s an order,” the owner says. 

There is a tense atmosphere in the bar that gives Lucy the chills. “Guys, guys I’m fine! It’s fine,” she tires to smile brightly. “Ezra-san? I can answer your questions, no problem,” except there were about a dozen and a half reasons that Lucy would rather be shot--again--than do this. With that declaration Lucy moves to go up the stairs and Ezra follows her. A few people were grumbling behind her, but she couldn’t focus on that. Right now she had to figure out a way to get out of this situation.

Once inside the office with the door closed Ezra moved to lean against the desk, Lucy stood awkwardly next to a chair, and the owner was sitting at his desk. “Where are you from?” 

“W-What?”

“Where. Are. You. From?” Ezra enunciated each word.

“Like...where was I born?” Lucy was so dumbfounded by this question. “Acalypha Town,” the lie came easily enough. It was close enough to the truth that she couldn’t forget it.

“Why did you come to Magnolia?”

“I’ve been traveling around for a while and heard nice things about the town,” she lies again.

“And where have you been traveling?” Ezra narrows her eyes.

“Oh anywhere I want to go,” Lucy laughs a little at this lie. “I’ve been as far as Joya before.” At this admission both Ezra and Makarov stare at her in bewilderment. “Like I said...anywhere I want to go.”

“Why?” Makarov finally asks a question.

“I don’t have much else going on…” Lucy mutters.

“When do you go home?” he asks.

“I…” here was her fear. “I don’t really have a place like that.” It was the only truth she had. “My home burned down killing both of my parents. I was with my grandmother when it happened and she died a few years ago which is when I decided to just travel around.” Lie. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. 

“Oh Lily-chan…” the sadness in his voice broke Lucy’s heart.

“B-but I’m fine! It’s okay! No big deal,” her stutter was going to be the death of her. Ezra continues to stare at her in contemplation. 

“What do you know about Twilight Ogre?” she asks.

“Huh?” completely confused, Lucy just gaped at her. “The bar? Literally only that it is a rival bar and they tried to rob Fairy Tail.” Ezra gave the owner a funny look and he nods.

“Okay just one other thing. Why don’t you have a bank account?”

“B-bank account?” Lucy was so lost. “My grandmother mistrusted banks and I guess I in-inherited that mistrust.” This line of questioning was definitely one of the stranger ones Lucy has been on the receiving end of. Ezra stares at her for a while longer before sighing and rubbing her hand down her face.

“Alright you can leave,” Lucy almost drops from the sheer terror she’s been in dissipating at those words. With a bow and quick wave she was out the door and down the stairs swiftly. Clutching her apron to her chest Lucy felt the need to recheck all of her belongings and going over all of her escape routes again. 

Once outside of the bar Lucy wastes no time in hightailing it back to the apartment. In her haste she completely misses the head of pink hair trailing after her. At her door is the only time she slows down enough to get the key into the lock and turn it. She enters quickly and relocks the door. Her heart continues to race as she hastily checks her supplies and check out the apartment. After she places her bag back under the bed and shucks off her shoes does Lucy sit down on her bed. She is faintly aware of a pinging noise coming from outside. Suddenly feeling groggy and upset Lucy tries to ignore it.

“ _ Oi! _ ” came the very annoyed sounding voice of Natsu. Lucy rolls her eyes and moves to open the window. “You ran outta there like a bat out of hell,” came his charming remark.

“I’m tired Natsu,” Lucy says wearily. She yawns for good measure.

“Alright g’night,” he turns to head off into the night. Lucy lazily waves after his figure then firmly shuts and locks the window. Turning back around to crawl under the covers Lucy feels a peculiar emotion, one she hadn't felt in a while. She’s sighs deeply before pulling the covers over her head and begins her long night of wallowing in longing.

~~~~Natsu

“I’m tired Natsu,” she says with a yawn.

_ ‘Damn I was hoping she’d let me come up to check everything…’ _ he thinks as he stares at her. “Alright g’night,” he says instead and turns to leave. He turns to head out onto patrol for the night. A ping sound goes off from his phone and he rolls his eyes in annoyance.

_ Where r u? _

It was Gray being as annoying as ever. 

_ On my way ice pants. Hold your horses. _

_ Meet @ the bar _

_ Why? _

Gray doesn’t respond back and with a growl Natsu turns around to head back to the bar. Ten minutes later found him back inside the hall with several other people milling about. “What the fuck man?” he asks as he approaches his friend.

“Mira texted saying to come back,” he shrugs.

“I didn’t get no damn text from her,” Natsu retorts. Before they could break out into a fight a cough came from behind the bar.

“Sorry everyone,” it was Mira. “I was just hoping if we all were here it might persuade Ezra to explain what just happened.” Like a summons, Ezra and the old man came down from the office.

“What is the meaning of this?” Ezra asks. Her face is set in a stony stare and her tone is lethal.

“Master why was Lily treated like a criminal just now?” Mira cuts straight to the chase.

“Yeah what the fuck was up with that Ezra?” Cana interjects. “She looked positively frightened when Ezra said her name and called her upstairs.”

“Out with it old man,” Gray growls next to Natsu. Laxus and Evergreen look pissed off as well, but Natsu couldn’t really tell why. They all didn’t seem particularly close to Lily, so what was up with this reaction?

“Natsu aren’t you even a little upset with this treatment? Aren’t you like Lily’s closest friend here?” Cana asks him.

“ _ Huh? _ ” he says dumbfounded. “What the hell are ya talkin’ about? You drink too much tonight Cana?”

“Don’t play dumb with me Dragneel! I know for  _ a fact _ that you’ve spent the night at her place before!” At her words Natsu found himself unable to suppress the flush that coated his face and neck. “Macao and Romeo saw you and her a while back!” she looked so smug. “So don’t tell me you’re okay with what just happened.”

Natsu had no defense against the accusation, but he’d be damned if became a bigger deal that it actually was. “I just got caught in the rain and she was kind enough to let me stay on her couch instead of trudging home in it!” he snaps. “Anyways I am curious as to what you could have possibly wanted from her Ezra. She looked terrified when I went to check on her and the entire time back to her apartment she was sprinting. Had a hell of a time keeping up.”

Ezra looks down at her master and he merely inclines his head towards the group of people. “There were some suspicious circumstances surrounding Herschel-san and I needed answers,” she admits with a sigh.

“Suspicious how?” Evergreen asks.

“It seemed strange that she took out Twilight Ogre minions so quickly and also happened to show up into town around the time of the kidnapping ring popping up. On top of that when I tried to search her history there was nothing-- _ nothing _ .” Ezra runs a hand through her hair. “She answered all my questions and it  _ seemed _ like nothing is amiss but…”

“What is  your point Ezra?” Natsu fumed. Now this was getting on his nerves.

“Just something seems off about her and I can’t tell what it is. So I am telling you,” she glares at Natsu. “All of you, if there is even a moment where something about this girl doesn’t feel right you are to contact me. Jellal is still out of town at the moment so all things weird need to be relayed to me.”

“To be fair, though, Ezra it is possible that Lily-chan isn’t hiding some dark secret and you’re just overreacting?” only the master could have said that to her without getting hit.

“...I will concede to that.”

“Good!” Makarov claps his hands together. “Now that that is all wrapped up get going. You have your assignments.” Gray and Natsu both turn to leave for their patrol route while Mira and Laxus move towards the master and Evergreen sighs before wiping out her phone to probably call Elfman. As everyone heads out to their respective jobs or homes Natsu can’t help but wonder if his night would have been better spent on Lily’s couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's my last week at my overnight job! I'm feeling excited and wanted to post another chapter :) I might do a third this week if I'm happy with the editing process lol
> 
> Review if you can, please! xoxo


	8. From Bad to Worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: violence
> 
> Please leave kudos and reviews if you like the story so far.
> 
> Thanks!

~~~~Natsu; The Next Week

“Come on man, it’s time to hit the bricks!” Natsu says as he heaves a drunk man out the door of the bar. Bixlow is wandering around the hall watching the crowd. Juvia was out on a mission from the old man so they had some local band playing tonight. Every once in a while he sees a flash of Lisanna through the kitchen doors. Max was back and they were both working quickly to fill the last of the orders.

Of course with Juvia gone Gray was moping about somewhere, probably being useless. “ _ Oi _ ! Ice for brains what the fuck are ya doin’?” Natsu shouts at the man by the bar. He saw, much to his irritation, that Gray was talking with Lily.

“Oh fuck off you had that guy just fine by yourself!” came his response. Reedus laughs at this as he moves around Lily to pour a line of shots. With a tight smile she places the shots onto a tray and hands it off to Laki. Natsu watches as she turns around to pour a few beers and grab a couple bottles out of the fridge. 

Gray turns back towards her and says something that Natsu can’t hear, but he sees her nod in response. Lily walks the beers down the bar and hands them off to some guy. He looks ready to jump over the bar just to be closer to her. Natsu was about to storm over there in frustration when a hand falls on his shoulder.

“Girlfriend troubles?” Bixlow goads. He has a shit eaters grin on his face as he waggled his eyebrows at Natsu.

“You say weird shit man,” Natsu deflects as he brushes Bixlow’s hand off and walks towards the doors. Bixlow follows him and they both sit at the door watching over everything.

“She seems different now,” Bixlow says offhandedly. Natsu only grunts in acknowledgement. “She doesn’t let anyone brush up against her again. Like when she first started.”

“You tryin’ to get fresh with her Bix?” Natsu tried for casual, but failed miserably. Bixlow laughed so loud he startled two passing women.

“Nah man I ain’t tryin’ to be on  _ your  _ bad side!” he howls. “Nah look.” They both turn to stare at the blonde. She slides past Reedus without any contact before grabbing money from a customer; their fingers don’t even come close to making contact. “No contact with anyone that I’ve seen in the past week. Since that whole Ezra incident.”

At the mention of their redheaded compatriot Natsu growls. “Yeah that was a fine fucking mess wasn’t it?”

“Mira seemed pissed about it,” he agrees. A group of people walk in and the conversation is dropped.

~~~~Lucy

“Thanks doll!” another patron calls out to Lucy. A group of women order another round of shots from her as Reedus and Mira traverse back and forth behind her. Lucy pours the shots and tries to be friendly towards the women as they ask her questions about the band. It seems as though the lead singer was highly desirable, but Lucy couldn’t see it. 

Laki shouts out another order and Mira moves quickly to fill it while Reedus changes out another keg. Lucy shuffles around to avoid colliding with anyone. Gray comes and goes from the bar as he is helping run stuff from the kitchen. Lisanna and Max had to deal with four large parties tonight because of this band. Luckily for them the kitchen should be closing soon, which meant that Lucy had another three hours before she could leave. 

Working on auto-pilot, Lucy moved around behind the bar cleaning up spills and dirty glasses. Every once in a while she’d catch herself looking for that familiar mop of pink hair and would quickly chastise herself for it.  _ ‘Focus, focus, focus,’ _ she repeatedly reminded herself. For whatever reason Lucy has found herself on the bad side of Ezra Scarlet and if she wants to go back to being unseen she had to stop looking for trouble. Literally.

After that heart stopping conversation with Ezra last week Lucy has been trying her hardest to go unnoticed. She didn’t let people get close enough to touch her, she tried to make her baton as prominent as possible, and above all else she has been limiting her interactions with Natsu. She had no clue if he even noticed,  _ ‘but that’s probably for the better,’ _ she thinks bitterly. The closeness and strange looks were starting to make her forget what she was even doing in Magnolia in the first place. 

Another patron calls out to her and she quickly refills their drink before moving out onto the floor to collect more glasses. A few times a blur of pink would cross her eyesight and Lucy steadfastly kept her focus ahead. Bixlow would cross her path every once in a while and even Gray managed to grab her attention for brief moments. 

As the night began to wind down Lucy was finding it harder and harder to avoid Natsu’s gaze. She helped Mira bring out more bottles to fill the shelves, she cleaned all the glassware and even offered to clean the dishes in the back. When her efforts were thwarted Lucy went out onto the floor to help Laki wipe down tables. Laki thanked her profusely before heading off to clean up other areas of the building. 

“So...you’re avoiding me,” Lucy yelped and almost fell over. She turned around to find Natsu standing behind her with his arms crossed.

“N-Natsu!” she stutters. Lucy grabs at her racing heart and scowls at him. “You scared me half to death,” she complains. “And I’m not avoiding you,” she huffs before turning to head back to the bar.

“Lil sorry can you go grab sugar from the back?” Mira calls out to her.

“S-sure,” she stutters again.  _ ‘Fuck,’ _ she mentally yells at herself. As she walks back to the dry storage area Natsu follows her. “What Natsu?” she spits out.

“Why are you mad at me?” his tone makes Lucy turn around in the doorway of the storage room. He sounded almost sad.

“I’m n-not mad at you.”

“So why the cold shoulder?”

“It was busy tonight Natsu,” she says exasperated.  _ ‘Apparently he noticed,’ _ she thinks in panic. She stepped through the door to go find the sugar for Mira and he followed. The door swung shut noiselessly behind him. Lucy moved farther into the room desperately seeking out the sugar. When she turns back around Lucy finds Natsu standing next to the sugar. “I-I need that,” she said softly.

She walks up and tries to subtly move so she doesn’t brush up against him as she reaches for the sugar on one of the higher shelves. Natsu drops his arms before moving behind Lucy and reaching up to grab it for her. His right hand comes to rest against her hip and the small contact sent a jolt up her spine. He places the sugar in her open hands before resting his head on her shoulder, his hand never left her hip.

“You only stutter when your nervous. Do I make you nervous?”

“I’m not um, I’m not nervous,” she stumbles over her words. “But I am busy,” she tries to sound firm. “Mira needs me.”

“Mhm,” he murmurs. She feels rather than see that his other hand was creeping up towards her other hip. In a moment of sheer panic Lucy spins around to face him.

_ ‘He can’t know, he can’t  _ see _ ,’ _ she thinks. He blinked owlishly at her as his only show of being surprised. “I have to go now Natsu,” she finally says in a firm voice. She gently removes his hand from her hip and wanted to whine at the loss, but she held strong. “Thanks for grabbing t-the sugar for me.” She turns and practically sprints out of the room.

“Oh thanks Lily! Where did Natsu go?” Mira asks.

“No problem Mira!” Lucy beams with a smile. “Oh I dunno maybe to get some air. It sure was hot in here tonight,” she uses her eyes to point at the large group of women still talking to the band. They both laugh before moving around to finish the last of the cleaning. Gray and Bixlow finally had to strong arm the band out the door with the women.

“Lily I saved you some food!” Lisanna says from the kitchen door. “Come eat with me!”

“You didn’t have to do that!” Lucy admonished her coworker. She moved quickly towards the kitchen when she saw pink. They go into the kitchen and eat standing over a prep area and chat while Max finishes his prep work for tomorrow morning. Mira calls out that everything is shut down and they were free to go. “Thanks again for the food Lisanna,” Lucy says. They pick everything up and walk out together.

“Gray you get her home safe, okay?” Lisanna asks as they walk up to the group of security guys. Bixlow laughs as Gray grumbles a response of being offended. “Natsu walk with me?” she asks her friend as he only stares at Lucy. “Natsu?” she touches his arm.

“Yeah go grab your sister,” he finally looks at Lisanna. She smiles before running up to the office to grab Mira.

“Ready?” Gray asks Lucy.

“Yeah I’m so tired,” she replies, a yawn crawls it way up her throat and Lucy tries to fight it. “Bye guys,” she waves before following Gray out the door.

“See ya,” Bixlow says with a wave. Natsu continues to look after Lisanna and Lucy shuts the door.

~~~~Lucy; 2 Weeks Later

“Lil you’re goin’ to be fine,” Gray grumbles for the tenth time in the last hour.

“He is  _ so  _ mad at me!” Lucy protests. “Do you really have to leave? Can’t Bix or Freed do it instead?” she whines.

Gray takes a deep, calming breath before turning to his friend behind him. “You. Will. Be Fine.” He punctuated each word harshly. “Besides it’s only a week  _ maybe  _ two. Tops,” he shrugs before turning back around.

“Juvia will be so lonely without Gray-sama around,” Juvia suddenly cried out.

“Exactly,” Lucy interjects. “Therefore you need to tell Makarov-san to send someone else on this errand that for some reason is taking you to the capital.” Juvia nods her head vigorously in agreement. Gray only sighs before stepping up to the counter to order them lunch. It was a Thursday and they all had the day off and now he was wondering why he let these two women drag him around Magnolia.

Gray continues to ignore them as he grabs the cups and heads over to get some much needed caffeine. Lucy made a gawfing sound at something Juvia said and he was only listening to maybe thirteen percent of what was being said. When he finished filling up the cup Gray thrusts the two iced teas into the women’ hands and stalks off to find a seat. When he sits down Juvia slides into the booth next to him while Lucy sits across. “I’m just worried is all,” she finally admits.

“What is goin’ on with you two anyway? Cana and Lisanna have been ridin’ my ass about this, too.”

Lucy looks down at her drink and twittles her fingers. Ever since she lied to Natsu about avoiding him a twisted kot has sat in her stomach like a stone. To make matters worse  _ he  _ was avoiding  _ her  _ now. In the last few weeks she has gone to her window at night after getting settled and he wasn’t here. Or at work he only spoke to her if there was literally no one else around to help with whatever he needed. There was almost always someone else.

To his credit at least he hasn’t stopped standing up to creeps for her. Even though she can totally handle that by herself, it brought a small comfort. A server brought the food to the table and they all started to eat. Lucy kept on looking down and it seemed her two lunch companions weren’t going to let her off the hook easily.

“Lily?” Juvia asks hesitantly. “It is because of a fight? Juvia knows how much Lily hates it when Natsu-san gets into a fight.” At this the blood rushes to Lucy’s cheeks and she cannot deny it without her stutter giving her away.

“N-no!” she protests anyways. “I mean y-yeah I don’t like it when he fights. Or any-any of you,” she glares at Gray, he shrugs. “But no...I don’t know,” she slumps her head down onto the table. “He just isn’t talking to me.”

“Mhm…” Gray mumbles around his burger. “Well he is in fact a certified idiot so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”

“Gray!”

“Gray-sama, really, everyone knows Natsu-san is Gray-sama’s best friend,” Juvia reprimands. Gray chokes on his food in his attempt to argue that point. Lucy looks up at them and smiles fondly. 

_ ‘Must be nice...being in love,’ _ she thinks quietly to herself. They finish the rest of the meal with more joval--and safer-- topics. “This was nice. Thank you for thinking of me Juvia,” Lucy says.

“Of course! Juvia loves spending time with Juvia’s friends!” the bluenette says with glee. Lucy internally flinches, but accepts the hug and word ‘friend’ with a smile. Gray gives her a smirk and a nod before throwing his arm across Juvia’s shoulders and heading off in the opposite direction. Lucy waves after them until she can’t see them before turning around herself.

As she walks along the river she waves at the fishermen that warn her to be careful, but that was the thing. She was always careful, up until she met Natsu and joined Fairy Tail all Lucy ever did was look over her shoulder. At every new place and on every back road she has walked she has looked over her shoulder. But then she came here, to Magnolia, and met these people that felt like, if she just asked, they would call her family. 

Lucy continued on into town and decided that she should pick up more chicken and a new bag of rice. A few friendly people called out to her on the street and she smiled absentmindedly at them. Her hand brushed over her baton every few steps as a reassurance that it was still there.  _ ‘He didn’t even  _ do _ anything in particular!’ _ her mind finally yells at her.  _ ‘He just...he just talked to me. Like he already knew me,’ _ she thought. Lucy walks into a park and sits at a bench.

A few people were out walking and playing in the park. Lucy watched as a little boy and girl ran around with a dog while their parents watched from a blanket. The sun was shining brightly overhead and there were no clouds in the sky. Yet Lucy continued to feel like crap. Her mind kept creating new situations that grew more and more ridiculous. She finally put her foot down when her subconscious brought up how warm his hand was on her hip. _ ‘Nope!’ _ she thinks as she stands up and slaps her cheeks. “I need to do some shopping and cooking I don’t have time for this,” she rationalizes with herself.

With a huff of indignant annoyance she walks out of the park towards the grocer. What she failed to realize was that she had a shadow behind her.

~~~~Natsu; A Few Hours Later

“Make Bixlow do it,” Natsu protests.

“Bixlow has patrol duties this week,” Mira argues. She has a smile on, but there is real malice behind it. “Besides I’m sure whatever problem you have with Lily is completely your fault.”

“Mira!” Natsu whines. “It is not!” He crosses his arms and pouts. To this day Natsu has no idea how Mira talked him into being her gym buddy, but it’s been this way for the better part of three years now. “ _ She _ ignored me first.” 

Mira was doing a couple of deadlifts and couldn’t respond right away. Natsu continued to do bicep curls and grumble under his breath. “All I’m saying Natsu is she is still new here. It’s barely been three months since she showed up.” She drops her weights with a loud crash before wiping the sweat off her forehead. “Give her a break,” she asks.

“Fine,” he concedes before racking up his weights. “But I’m still annoyed that she ignored me.” They do some stretches together before splitting off into the locker rooms. A few minutes later they both come out of the rooms holding their phones in shock. “We gotta go  _ now _ !” They take off out the door and down the street towards the guild. Their gym was almost fifteen minutes away from the guild.

~~~~Lucy; At the Same Time

“Stupid Natsu,” Lucy mutters to herself as she browses the shelves of the store looking for chili peppers. “Stupid Natsu,” she mutters again in a slightly angier tone as she finds the peppers and snatches three off the shelf. She shoves them into her bag next to the chicken and spinach that she found. Along with a couple of household thing Lucy finishes her shopping and starts to walk back to the apartment. 

The sun was setting and the sunset was beautiful. Lucy tried to relax on her walk by looking at the sky. A couple of the brighter stars and the moon could be seen at this hour. _ ‘I wonder if Gray ever takes Juvia out to look at the sky?’ _ she thinks as she moves to take her keys out. _ ‘He should be out of town by now,’ _ she thinks in dread. “Ah shoot,” she mumbled as her bag slips and she has to set it down on the ground. Suddenly a shot rang out and within seconds there is chaos, people began to scream and run as Lucy looks up at the door. A bullet hole is smoking where her head had just been.

Even with the sheer terror that gripped Lucy’s heart she knew that she had to turn around. Behind her a man with a cloak stepped out from behind a tree. He was pointing the gun straight at Lucy; without hesitation Lucy grabs her baton and dives down. Another shot goes off and the man curses. Lucy lunges at the man and manages to land a solid blow to his gut. He crumbles to the ground and Lucy takes the chance to reach for his gun.

“I don’t think so girly,” the man sneers before he lands a punch to Lucy’s face. Pain radiates from her left cheek. She backs up and lunges at him again baton first. He manages to dodge that one and attempted to kick her feet out. Too bad for him that Lucy has seen that move a hundred times before. “Stop moving!” he bellows. He aims wildly and let’s another shot off into the air. The screaming continues on in the background. Once more Lucy goes for the gun and this time she makes contact.

“Let go!” she screams as she begins to wrestle the man. The hood of the cloak falls back and Lucy can see his face. “Who are you?!” she has never seen this man before. “What do you want from me!” she screeches as they fight. Lucy lands a few kicks to his stomach and leg, but he has her beat in sheer size and soon overpowers her. They struggle as Lucy desperately tries to wraggle the man off of her. One hand gets free from his grasp and Lucy slashes her nails across his face.

“You bitch!” he screams out in pain. He drops the gun and the hot barrel catches the delicate skin of Lucy’s neck on its way down. She bites back a moan of pain as she kicks up and makes contact with the guys groin. He spits in her face and it only further fuels Lucy rage. She manages to twist in his hold and grab her baton again. With one swift move Lucy twists back around and smashes her weapon into her attackers face. His grip slips enough that Lucy can wiggle out.

She doesn’t stop to look behind her as she takes off into the night. Only when she hears his heavy footfalls behind her does Lucy wonder if this was truly the end of the line for her.  _ ‘What were all these years wasted for?’ _ the bitter thought made her mouth taste bad. _ ‘Natsu!’ _ tears stream down her face as she continues to sprint towards something.

~~~~At the Bar

“What the hell are you waiting for? An invitation!” Elfman roars over the sound of the crowd. Multiple people stand up from various spots in the hall and pull out weapons. “My sister and Natsu are already in pursuit--let’s go!” at his command the random members of the community begin to pour out of the bar and into the street. Lisanna stands at the kitchen door tense, torn between her duty to hang back and her desire to go out and tear that man limb from limb.

“Lisanna-san,” a woman cries out.

“I’m here don’t worry,” she sighs before turning to the cowering crowd behind her. Several women and children from around Lily’s apartment had come to the bar seeking shelter. Juvia and Laki were both roaming through the crowd to make sure everyone was alright. Lisanna turns back around just in time to catch Freed running out the door holding onto his sword. “Don’t worry,” she repeats more to herself.

~~~~Natsu

“Mirajane where the  _ fuck  _ are we going?!” Natsu screams as they race across rooftops. It was the fastest way around Magnolia. After a quick stop at the bar Natsu gathered enough intel from the terrified citizens to know that Lily was in some serious shit. Neither he nor Mira waited for their master’s orders, they took off at top speed.

“That last lady said that she saw Lily-chan running towards us!” Mira yells over the wind. “We have to intercept! I think just the two of us should be enough to take down one man!”

“Mirajane--” Natsu cuts himself off as a yellow and red dot zooms past him. “ _ Fuck! _ ” with a quick pivot Natsu leaps off of the roof and down onto the street. He doesn’t wait to make sure Mira makes it to the ground before he is off again after the dot. 

“Lily!” Mira screams behind him. “Lily! Stop!” Their only response is a broken sob as they continue to run after her. To Natsu’s complete horror a gunshot rings in the air. A sound so feral and terrifying comes from the direction of the fleeing woman. As they get closer to the guild Natsu sees a rather large mob heading towards them. To his utter relief it is being led by a very angry looking Elfman and Evergreen. Lily must not have recognized them though because she stopped dead in her tracks for all of one second before bolting down an alleyway.

“Gods damn woman!” Natsu bellows behind her. Another shot goes off and when Natsu looks over his shoulder a cloaked figure is catching up to them. “Mira!”

“I got it! You get Lily!” Mira whirls around with a snarl before taking off towards the apparent aggressor. Needing no more encouragement than that Natsu banks a hard right down the alleyway that Lily took and continued after her. Faintly he could hear the sound of the guild jumping that one man and a smile broke across his face.

Down a few more quieter streets Natsu is finally able to catch up to her. He can see that her energy is waning and her steps become sluggish. Lily attempts to cross another bridge before her legs complete collapse under her. She lets out a pained yelp as her knees make contact with the cobblestone. Natsu begins to slow down and can see giant sob wracked her body. “Hey…” he says softly.

Every muscle tenses and he is terrified that she is going to bolt again. On shaky legs Lily stands up and slightly turns her head. The terror and fear that blinded her eyes stare out at him, it was like nothing he had ever seen before. Flashes of that room and the faces of his dear friends who were gone too soon looked back at him. Her eyes roamed his form and it was like she didn’t even see him. He took a small step forward and held out his hands. “N-Natsu…” her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

He had to have looked crazy because he felt crazy. When she said his name it sounded like a prayer. “Lily,” he breathed out. The name felt wrong coming out of his mouth and he finally figured out why he never called her by that name. It wasn’t her name. But her face transformed into one of such absolute relief that he couldn’t care about that at the moment. He sprinted the last few feet between them and caught her just as her muscles finally gave out all together.

Together they sank down onto the ground and Natsu cradled her to his chest. Blood was dripping from a cut above her eyebrow and an angry welt was throbbing on her neck. Various cuts and scrapes littered her body and it enraged him to know that it should have been prevented. “I’m sorry, so sorry I should have been there for you,” his voice was hoarse.

Her hand came up and she trailed her fingers down his face, “stupid Natsu,” she murmurs. Lily’s eyes droop shut as her hand falls into her lap.

“Yeah, yeah you’re right,” he agrees before standing up with her in his arms. “Stupid indeed.”

~~~~Lucy

Pain is radiating from all angles, every step is laced with it. Lucy can feel her heart beating too quickly and all the blood has rushed to her head. The world has hollowed out and there was nothing except the sound of her labored breathing and his footsteps. Lucy can’t see straight everywhere she looks it’s that damned chamber again. She can’t hear anything or feel anything as the sound of the metal lock falling into place reverberates in her skull. Panic and unadulterated fear are her only companions in the dark streets. 

All of her things that have kept her alive until now were back in that damn apartment. She had to leave town without it--again. It took the better part of a year to save up that money again. She’d have to find a way to get ahold of her underground contact. Lucy’s vision began to swim the longer she ran. There were too many thoughts crowded in her head and they all screamed for her attention. Another gunshot goes off and in that moment Lucy found clarity. 

She can hear again and the world was once again whole. But of course the gods had abandoned Lucy a long time ago as a large mob of people waving weapons came charging at her. She froze in the middle of the street and without really knowing where it would go Lucy ran down the closet alleyway and fled. The sounds of the mob grew smaller the farther she ran, but the incessant footfalls of that odious man were still behind her. So Lucy continued to charge forward.

_ ‘Please don’t stop,’ _ she begs her body as the adrenaline starts to diminish and the pain increases tenfold. Lucy turns to go over a bridge, but halfway across her right leg completely crumbles under her and she goes down hard. A yelp and sob later find her on the ground unable to move. 

“Hey,” a calm voice says. Is she hallucinating now? The guy from before wasn’t soft-spoken or kind. Throwing all of her strength into her legs Lucy propels herself up and standing, if not leaning against the bridge for some support. Her neck is throbbing from where the gunmetal made contact with flesh, but she turns her head slightly. The world is dimmer now than she remembers it being when this all started. There is in fact a man standing behind her with his hands out and slightly raised. 

Lucy tries so hard to place him, but her brain is muddled and everything blurs together. The man isn’t moving, which is helpful, and Lucy can finally make out one distinct feature.  _ ‘Pink,’ _ and dredged  her memory for a name, “N-Natsu…” she whispers.

The look of terror on his face was replaced with something softer and sadder. “Lily,” he breathed her fake name and it was almost her undoing. Never before had that name felt more like a burden than when he said it. But damn the gods was she happy to know the person behind her. Natsu sprinted towards her in time to prevent her body from kissing the pavement. He held her so gently that Lucy wanted to cry. Her whole body was on fire and everything hurt, the new and the old. “I am sorry, so sorry I should have been there for you,” he sounded broken.

Lucy smiled, well she tried to smile, “stupid Natsu,” she slurs. The pain was starting to shut down her brain. There was too much hurt and it couldn’t all be processed. Her fingers that meant to cup his face only grazed it as slumber pulled her under. She was only vaguely aware of being lifted up and the mumbled response from him. Lucy blacked out.


	9. Memories

~~~~Natsu

“She’s in bed,” Natsu says into his phone. “Passed out almost as soon as I caught up to her,” he fibbed to Erza and gramps. A few hissed words were passed between Mira and Erza before the old man just took the phone.

“Natsu.”

“I know,” he sighs. He looks down at the blonde sleeping deeply on the bed. “Tell the girls to knock it off she ain’t dead.”

A few angry responses met his statement, it seems everyone at the guild hall was on the call.

“Natsu,” came the questioning voice of his ex. “Is...is she--”

“She’s fine Lisanna,” he runs a hand down his face. “A few cuts and bruises and a welt that might scar, but nothing life threatening.”

“Natsu-san! Juvia wants to see Juvia’s friend!” Gray’s girlfriend comes wailing into the phone. This is met with a round of girls wanting to see Lily.

“That is enough ladies,” the master says firmly. “Lily-chan needs rest and we have a captive to deal with.” Huffy and angry responses follow the order, but they all stopped bitching to Natsu.

“ _ Oi _ old man,” Natsu says darkly. “I get first swing.”

The master laughs in response, “I can’t promise you first swing. Lily-chan did not go down without a fight.” Natsu could feel the mood change through the phone, “but I can promise you a turn.” The old man hung up the phone before Natsu could respond. With a sigh and stretch Natsu stands up and goes into the kitchen. The landlady explained that she found a bag of groceries hanging out on her stoop and assumed they belonged to her wild tenant. Taking a look around Natsu found that the food was put away and the apartment was clear.

Knowing that he wasn’t going to be getting any sleep tonight Natsu decided that he would save Lily the trouble and cook for her.  _ ‘Well not Lily, but whoever that girl is out there is one hell of a lady,’ _ he thinks as he grabs out ingredients. It was going to be a long night.

~~~~Natsu; The Next Week

“She has literally not woken up once,” Natsu growls into the phone for the tenth time that morning. “Of course I’m checking her vitals! What do you take me for?” The other voice is muffled as Natsu switches the phone to his other ear. “Listen here ice princess…” he starts with a warning tone. “You and I both know nothing was going to prevent this. I’ve already beaten the guy to near death. Mira, Cana, Laki, and gods know who else have already come over to fawn over her. Now if you really want to help you’ll go and get some answers.”

Natsu grunts as he lifts the dumbbell he brought from his home to her apartment and listens to Gray whine. “Just do it and after you get answers I’ll let you into the apartment,” Natsu smirks at the indignant retort his friend begins to scream at him. “Bye Gray!” Natsu laughs before hanging up. He finishes his quick workout and heads into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror Natsu sees how the last week of sleepless nights caught up with him. The bags under his eyes were dark and his hair looked terrible no matter how often he tried to brush it. 

With a sigh he turns on the shower and starts shucking off his workout clothes. Once under the warm spray does he think about the past week again.

_ “P-Please!” the man begs. Natsu and Juvia were both standing over his prone form. Juvia was holding a wet towel and had a nasty scowl on her face as she kicked the man in the ribs again. “I don’t know anything! I don’t know!” he screams. _

_ Natsu was growing bored of this man and his pleas. With his foot he rolls the man over to find that he had soiled his pants. “Gross,” he growls. Juvia gags and makes a disgusted face before kicking him again. She was, after all, the best at information extraction, next to him, and had a low tolerance for idiots.  “I’ll only ask once more. Why did you go after a member of Fairy Tail?” _

_ “I didn’t know! I didn’t know!” the man wails. He has tears and snot running down his dirty face. “I just got here! M-my boss--” _

_ “Which boss?” Juvia snarls in his face. _

_ “Mitchel! He’s from the branch in the capital! He--he told me I c-could do whatever I wanted!” _

_ Natsu and Juvia share a look, they were finally getting somewhere. Natsu picked the man up by the throat and throws him against the back wall of the interrogation room. He would be forever grateful that Lily never noticed the loose stone in the storage room floor that led to this place. It stinks to high heaven and no one really bothers to clean it except once a year. But it did its job as a safe place to beat up a few people. “What exactly did Mitchel send you here for?” _

_ “I...I don’t know! The only thing I was t-told was to come to Magnolia and meet u-up with our branch here!” he was cradling his right arm in the corner. “P-please!” he begs again. “I didn’t know about the girl was yours!” _

_ “For a member of an assassination guild you sure are easy to roll,” Juvia intones as she stalks the man. He sobs as she closes the distance between them. “You sure are an idiot,” this side of Juvia always managed to send a chill down Natsu’s spine. “Tell me idiot do you know Jose?” _

_ “J-Jose?” his eyes go wide at the name. Natsu stands back and picks at his nails while wondering if that girl had woken up yet. It’s been three days and everyone upstairs was ready to skin this man alive for what he did to her. “I’ve heard the name, but I’m not high enough in the organization to have met the man.” _

_ “Can you be a double agent for me?” Juvia asks in a sickly sweet voice. She always stops talking in the third person when she gets like this.  _

_ “No.” It was the first time since day one that this man has used such a firm tone. Natsu stands up straight and let’s out a low growl. Juvia doesn’t give him time to pummel the man, she cold cocks him in the jaw. He was out before his head slammed against the floor.  _

Natsu turns off the water and steps out of the shower with a sigh. He towels off before wrapping it around his waist. Between interrogations and watching over the girl he hasn’t stopped. The nightmares were steadily increasing in intensity since she fell into a coma and it was almost as bad as two years ago again. He looked at himself in the mirror again, scowled at his reflection, then left the bathroom. 

She was still laying in bed, she hadn’t even moved a muscle. Natsu noticed over the week that sometimes her face would contort into one of discomfort and he’d increase the drugs. Gramps had a few contacts inside the local hospital and one of the nurses that owed the guild a favor was coming in to check on her daily. No matter how much he increased the drugs or massaged her muscles so they wouldn’t atrophy that look never went away completely. He decided that she must be having nightmares too.

Natsu changes into new clothes and goes to close the windows since night was falling. “Meow?” came the soft voice of Happy.

“I know little buddy, I’m worried as well,” Natsu looks down at the almost blue feline at his feet. Natsu had Lisanna bring Happy over after he won the argument that he’d be the one staying at her place permanently until she woke up. He laughed lightly thinking back to how Mira, Lisanna, and Cana were so mad at him for winning that particular fight. Evergreen was also a little peeved which surprised Natsu. 

His friend has taken a liking to the girl and has slept on the bed with her every night this past week. Which made Natsu a little jealous and he wasn’t quite ready to understand why just yet. After closing all the windows and shutting off the lights, Happy goes to jump up onto the bed and curl up next to her head. Natsu stares at them with narrowed eyes before biting his bottom lip and moving towards the couch. Natsu wasn’t much of a reader, but since she didn’t have a television for some reason he only had her books for entertainment. So, Natsu picks up the book that she had bought that day he found her after the festival. He smiled to himself remembering how mad she was that she wasn’t able to read it that day.

_ After dragging her to the guild’s favorite diner Natsu and Lily stand outside looking like a couple of idiots. “Um...well thanks f-for the food Natsu.” _

_ “No problem weirdo,” he laughs when she swats at his arm. Out of the corner of his eye Natsu saw a crowd gathering. “What do ya think that is?” he points. _

_ “Oh, I dunno,” she shrugs. “Maybe a performance?” _

_ “Really?” his eyes light up. “Come on!” he grabs her wrist again and drags her towards the crowd. She protests and tries to break free, but Natsu was determined now. He wiggles between people to get closer to the front. “Look at that!” he exclaims. _

_ Lily stands on her toes to try and see what was going on. “Natsu I can’t see I’m too short,” she pouted. Without thinking Natsu hoists her up onto his shoulders and she screams.  _

_ “There,” he said proudly. What he couldn’t see was that Lily’s face was beet red and if she had spoken it would have been a stuttering mess. “It’s a fire eater! How cool is that?” _

_ “V-very,” came her timid response. She wove her fingers into his hair to steady herself, Natsu didn’t care he was too busy watching the show.  _

_ Once the show was over and people began moving on Natsu walked a few feet away from the crowd to let her down. “That was so cool!” _

_ “Mhm,” she says. _

_ “You feelin’ okay? Your face is like bright red,” Natsu pokes her forehead. _

_ “I-it is n-not!” she stammers in protest causing her face to flush more. Natsu thought it was really cute. “And I am fine!” she says through clenched teeth. “You shouldn’t just throw ladies around you know!” _

_ “Oh come on that was so worth it,” he gave her a toothy smile. Lily made a noise of disapproval, but she gave up trying to convince him otherwise. “So what should we do now?” _

_ “Now?” she asks incredulously. “I don’t know, I was going to read in a park remember?” _

_ “But that’s so boring,” Natsu whines.  _

_ “It is not!” _

_ “Is so!” _

_ “Oh, my gods you two are so cute!” they both turned to see a young girl staring at them. “Seriously like such a cute couple! I hope I get a boyfriend as cute as him!” she points at Natsu and giggles. _

_ “He is not my boyfriend!” _

_ “She is lucky isn’t she?” they spoke at the same time. Lily throws his a death glare before stomping off. Natsu winks at the girl before jogging to catch up. “So where to now girlfriend?” he wiggles his eyebrows at her. _

_ Lily stomps on his foot before turning down a street. Natsu laughs behind her before running to catch up again. “Oh come on it was funny!” When he catches up with her he sees that there is a funny look on her face. “What’s up?” _

_ A very stubborn look crosses her face before she turns her back to him with a huff. “Nothing,” she snips. _

_ “Alright?” _

_ Lily continues to look around the area with a quizzical expression. “I don’t know where I am,” she admits with a sigh. _

_ “Ah,” Natsu intones. “Want me to show you around the town? It’s really not that hard to figure out once you understand the fucked up grid system it was built on.” _

_ “What?” she says exasperated. “How can it be a grid system and still not make sense?” Natsu only shrugs before walking ahead. “ _ Fine _ ,” she groans and follows behind him. _

The memory was a good one. It was the first time that Natsu spent a whole day with her and in the following weeks it seemed like they were becoming fast friends. But then Erza came in and grilled her into terror and the result was her shutting him out. “Tsk stupid Erza,” he whispers to himself. Happy begins to purr behind Natsu on the bed and when he turns around to find out why he almost fell off the couch.

“Hello,” Lily says softly. The bandages around her throat constrict as she tries to breathe normally again. “Wh-what happened?” her voice was scratchy and hoarse.

“Wait here...hold on,” Natsu scrambles to get up and into the kitchen. He comes back a moment later with a glass of water. Once she has the glass in her hands Natsu grabs his phone. “Gimme a minute,” he opens the phone and searches for the nurses number. As he waits for her to pick up her phone he tries to do anything except stare at her. “Hey,” he says. The nurse--Maria maybe--asks him what’s going on. “So she woke up.”

He can feel her staring at him. “Yeah I can take it out,” he looks up at the ceiling. “Tomorrow? Yeah I’ll be here to open the door.” Now he looks down at his feet and studies his toes. “Nah I ain’t tryin’ to have that kind of problem tonight. I’ll call the old man tomorrow morning. He has Asuka-chan tonight anyways I’m sure he’d rather not wake her up right now.” He listens to the instructions from Maria before hanging up.

“Natsu,” her voice sounds more normal now. It also sounds very agitated.

“Yup…” he continues to stare at his toes.

“Can you explain to me what exactly is going on?”

Now he turns to look at her, “what do you remember?”

She scoots back to rest against the headboard and Happy crawls into her lap to continue receiving pets. “Oh well...mhm,” she pets Happy absentmindedly as she thinks. “I needed groceries and I think I made it back here…” she trails off. Natsu watches in tense silence as she tries to piece together what happened. “Oh...oh gods,” tears form in the corner of her eyes. “N-Natsu,” her voice broke. Happy curls in closer to her stomach when she doubles over and sobs.

“H-hey now. Come on it--it’s goin’ to be okay,” Natsu takes a seat at the end of the bed. 

“W-w-w-what happened?” she blubbered. “Every-everything hurts Natsu,” she was breaking his heart. “Who was um, who was that? What did he-he want from me?”

“We...we don’t know.” Natsu twists his fists into the comforter and scowls down at it. “We’re working on it Erza is doubling down on her efforts to figure out what Twilight Ogre wants from us. Everyone is pretty pissed about this,” he looks at her. “I’m sorry.”

She still continues to cry, but she shakes her head. “No, I’m sorry Natsu I sh-shouldn’t have ignored you.”

“Erza is a complete bitch, but she didn’t mean to scare you. I should have understood that better than anyone,” he argues. “But don’t worry about that right now. I need to take the IV out of your arm. Let me grab the first aid kit.” He stands back up and rushes to the bathroom to grab the kit. When he comes back out to the room he sees that Happy has moved to curl around her neck. 

“This is gonna hurt a little.” He sits down and opens the kit.

“Everything hurts a lot so I don’t think it’ll make a difference.” 

“Right…” he says sheepishly. “Alright hold still and...alright,” he presses a cotton ball to the puncture wound and tapes it down. “Maria said not to move that arm in a crazy fashion. Whatever the fuck that means,” Natsu repeats. They sit in silence for a few minutes before Natsu couldn’t stand it anymore. “Well I think we could both use some good sleep.”

“Natsu you look so tired,” she says.

“It’s been a long week,” he admits. “Well anyways get some sleep. Maria will be over in the morning to do her final check of ya and then you gotta face our coworkers,” he gives her a crooked smile.

“Oh no,” she groans before rolling over and throwing the covers over her head. Natsu laughs, but doesn’t say anything else as he moves to turn off the light then lay down on the couch. 

~~~~Lucy; The Next Day

“Cana quit bein’ so overbearing,” Natsu growls at their coworker. Lucy laughs when Cana throws her bottle at his head. Laki and Cana were the third round of visitors the day after Lucy woke up from her small coma. “Damn you!”

“Natsu,” Lucy says softly, but firmly. “She was just worried is all. No big deal.”

“Yes big deal! Huge deal! Lil that man--” Cana choked on her words before lunging into Lucy’s chest. It hurt and Lucy really wanted to go back to sleep, but instead she pats her head and makes cooing noises at Cana. “I’m gonna kill ‘im.”

“I thought Erza-san took him in?” At her question the other two in the room shared a look that spoke of secrets. Lucy didn’t press when they told her some fabricated story. “Well anyways he can’t get to me and that’s all that matters.”

“Lily I don’t ever wanna leave your side again!” Cana cries out dramatically.

“Oh please I’m fine,” she puffs out her chest and flexes her bicep. “I don’t know how to feel about this but it isn’t the first time this has happened to me.” She sighs and stares out the window. “I mean honestly this is the third guy from that bar that’s tried to hurt me. I don’t know what they think they’re gonna accomplish from attacking me!” Cana and Natsu shift nervously at her statement and she again ignores her suspicions. “Well anyways Maria said that I will be back to normal in a few days. My neck will have a new scar,” her fingers brush over the bandages. “But that’s fine,” her voice was tight.

“Cana we should probably get going,” Laki says from the kitchen. “Natsu I put some soup on and it should be done in an hour. Make sure you get a lot of fluids okay Lily?” Lucy smiles at her. “Natsu, master says you are not to leave here under any circumstances.”

“Yeah, yeah I know jeez can’t he trust me for one day?” Natsu grumbled. Cana and Laki both hug Lucy goodbye before heading out to the bar. It was Friday and Lucy should have been going with them, but poor Mira was kind enough to cover her shifts until she could make it back to work. 

“You can sleep. I’ll wake you when the food is ready,” Natsu says as he grabs his workout gear and heads to the bathroom. 

“Alright,” she sighs and lays back down. Happy jumps up to cuddle next to her and she pets him absentmindedly as she watches Natsu go into the bathroom and shut the door. “I’m starting to think Magnolia has a lot more than just my secrets Happy,” she confesses to the cat.

“ _ Meeow, _ ” came his lazy response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this is a turning point in the story. A lot of information is going to happen in the next few chapters; I can't wait!
> 
> Reviews always welcomed :)


	10. Distractions Lead to Questions

~~~~Lucy; The Next Week

“Lily-chan it’s good to have you back!” a customer shouts from the bar. Several others chime in as well at the sentiment. She waved and smiled at them all, but since the wound on her neck was still healing it hurt to talk. Mira had her back in the kitchen with Wakaba for the next two weeks which was annoying, but nothing she could do about it. Gray continued to pop in and out of the kitchen and his sour expression never changed. No matter how many times Lucy told him this wasn’t his fault he took her injuries pretty hard.

Lisanna and Juvia were beside themselves trying to make work easier for her. Lucy had to literally chase them out of the kitchen with a broom to get them back on stage. Lucky for her Wakaba was a really nice guy and didn’t pry. He merely shuffled around her and worked in a comfortable silence with her. Natsu on the other hand was becoming a pain and even Wakaba was starting to get irritated with him. “At least take a few dishes out to be some kind of helpful!” he yells as he shoves Natsu out for the tenth time that night.

“Natsu stop making Wakaba-san angry,” Lucy huffs as she plates another dish. “Romeo and his dad are out of town for the rest of this month so you know we are short-handed back here. Be useful,” she snaps the last part. 

“Fine!” he yelled from the other side of the door. She sighs and rolls her eyes at Wakaba who laughs in response. The rest of the night went smoothly and it felt nice to be off earlier than normal. Lucy received several compliments on her cooking and that felt nice. Wakaba ran to the storage room to grab a few prep ingredients for the next day and left Lucy to finish up the dishes.  

“Hey Lil you got a minute?” it was Mira.

“Oh hey, hi yeah Mira what’s up?” Lucy smiles at her.

“Well...I’ve been thinking about what happened last week a lot,” a sad look crossed her face. Lucy reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I just feel so bad,” tears form in the corners of her eyes. Mira shuffles around and Lucy notices that her hands are behind her back.

“Oh Mira it isn’t anyone’s fault,” Lucy pulls the other woman in for a hug. “Seriously I’m fine. Maria is doing a follow-up check next week. I’m going to be better than ever!”

“I know and I trust Maria-san, but it was so unnerving to see you so...so small looking. When Natsu carried you back h-here,” her voice broke. Mira shook her head and cleared her throat, “I just don’t want to have you in that position ever again Lily. So I got you something.”

“Mira you didn’t have to do that,” Lucy protests.

“I know, I wanted to do it.” Mira pulls a box from behind her back. “I know you love that baton of yours but…” she trails off as she opens the lid. “I was hoping you’d take an interest in a longer range weapon.” Lucy looks inside to find a gigantic whip laying in the box.

“Mira!” Lucy gasps. The whip was a light blue color and the handle had stars embroidered onto it. The end of the whip was in a delicate looking heart shape, but Lucy knew that more edges meant more damage. “You really didn’t have to do this,” she pulls it out of the box. 

“I’m more of a boxer myself,” Mira admits. “But I know a little bit about whip work and can teach you.”

“Well actually,” Lucy says. “During my travels I met a ton of interesting people. Would you believe a monk taught me how to fight with a whip?” Mira blinked in surprise and confirmed she did not in fact believe it. “I know, I know it sounds so strange. But I met a monk at a temple on the outskirts of Joya a long time ago. They were warriors and this particular guy happened to specialize in whips. Taught me everything he knew.” 

“That is...unexpected,” Mira replies.

“Isn’t it? People are so fascinating and it was a joy to learn. Granted his whips were much shorter and all black. So boring in comparison to this one!” Lucy pulls out the holder and attaches it to her other hip opposite her baton. “I love it,” she states.

“Good!” Mira responds happily. They hear shouting from the bar and both women sighed in exasperation. “I should probably go and stop whatever that was about,” Mira groans. Both women smile and laugh before heading out onto the floor.

_'Just another typical night at Fairy Tail,'_ Lucy thinks to herself with a smile. 

At the end of the night, once everything is closed down Gray and Lucy head out towards the apartment. “Some night!” Grays says with a smile.

“For you and Natsu maybe,” Lucy intones. “I swear you two are the biggest problems for the bar! You broke a table by throwing Natsu at it!” Lucy says in exasperation. “I mean what the hell man?”

“Aw come on Lily,” he laughs. “We said we’d pay for a new one. Besides it would have been a boring night otherwise.”

“I could use a little more boring,” she says. They both laugh and talk about the night until they reach the building. “Thanks for walking with me,” she smiles at Gray.

“No worries it ain’t a big deal. ‘Sides Juvia would eat me alive if I didn’t do it then bring me back just so Erza can kill me next,” he grimaces at the image. “Walking you home is a nicer alternative.”

“Mhm I agree and I can’t believe how different Erza-san is now,” Lucy replies.

“Yeah she is a giant softy in the right circumstances. Honestly she probably seemed so bitchy before because Jellal is outta town.”

“Jellal? Oh right her boyfriend and partner.”

“Yeah,” Gray yawns. “Anyways I’ll see ya later Lil. Goodnight.”

“Bye Gray,” she walks inside and shuts the door. “Oh! You scared me!” Lucy exclaims after coming face to face with her landlady.

“Good night at the bar?”

“Mhm yeah, a fight broke out but what’s new?” Lucy shrugs. Her landlady only nods her head before entering her own apartment. “Goodnight.” Her only response was a closed door. Lucy shook her head as she mounted the stairs to the unit. Already there was a pinging sound from her window.

“Meow?” came the snappy tone from Happy.

“I’ll feed you hold on you crabby kitty. First your dad wants in,” Lucy rubs at her temple before moving to open the window. “Why don’t you just walk here with me and Gray?” Lucy complains. 

“Wouldn’t be as fun as this!” came Natsu’s cheeky reply as he climbs up the ivy. Once inside he immediately goes to search the apartment for any signs of trouble.

“Don’t you have your own place?” Lucy exclaims as she walks to the kitchen with Happy in tow. “Seriously I’m fine Natsu. And you two are eating me out of house and home,” she continues to complain. Lucy opens a can of tune and sets it down on the floor for the cat. Happy purrs in appreciation while eating.

“And another thing--!” she starts to say as she turns around and runs right into Natsu’s chest. Heat roared through Lucy’s veins and it caused a blush to coat her cheeks. “Natsu,” she squeaks.

“Everything is clear here,” she could hear the smile in his voice. He was thoroughly enjoying her embarrassment. Instead of responding Lucy punches him in the spleen, right where she knew Bixlow had kicked him earlier. Natsu went down like a sack of bricks and was groaning on the floor. “That hurt you ass,” he groans.

“Humpf! Serves you right!” she retorts. Lucy walks over him to her closet to grab some pajamas. “Now I am going to take a bath. No peeking! Don’t be a pervert!”

~~~~Natsu

“What are you doing?” she asks quietly as she emerges from the bathroom.

“Readin’,” Natsu replies from the couch.

“You can read?” she quips and sticks her tongue out at his indignant face when he turns around to look at her.

“You really are an ass,” he huffs before turning back around to continue reading. He heard her giggle as she walked across the room to her desk. Natsu tries desperately not to follow her with his eyes, but he finds it harder and harder to do with each passing day. The realization that her name was fake has thrown him for a loop, which only made the task more difficult. _ ‘Can’t let my guard down around her. Who knows why she’s here…’ _

“Natsu?” her voice was right in his ear. Natsu had to physically restrain himself from falling off the couch in surprise. She rested her head on his shoulder and was looking down at the open book in his lap. “You’re ignoring me.”

“Am not,” he grunts, trying to hide his embarrassment at being caught. Out of the corner of his eye Natsu could see her pouting,  _ ‘damn all of it to hell…’ _ he curses himself.  _ ‘She looks cute.’ _

“Whatever,” she sighed and it tickles his ear. “Happy and I are going to bed. Turn off the light when you’re done.”

“G’night,” he says quietly. A murmured goodnight and a contented meow came in response before a calm quiet fell over the apartment. Only when he was sure they were both fast asleep does Natsu turn around to look at her. The moonlight was hazy through her curtains and it gave that part of the room a particular glow. Completely abandoning the book Natsu creeps over to the bed and crouches down to peer at her face. He couldn’t believe that she would be up to no good and he definitely didn’t want to think she had any connection with Twilight Ogre. Erza’s suspicions crept into his mind the longer he looked at her sleeping face. 

_ “It seemed strange that she took out Twilight Ogre minions so quickly and also happened to show up into town around the time of the kidnapping ring popping up. On top of that when I tried to search her history there was nothing-- _ nothing _. She answered all my questions and it seemed like nothing is amiss but…” _

“But what if?” he mumbled to himself. He watched her for a few moments longer before standing back up and turning off the light. As quietly as he could Natsu roamed around her apartment. He was searching for something--anything that could tell him who she was or why she was in Magnolia. In the kitchen he opened all the cupboards and rifled through the drawers. In the bathroom there were no personal touches expect for the candles the other guild members got her as a welcome present. 

Out in the main area he overturned the couch cushions, looked through the closet, took out all the desk drawers, and even looked under the lamp. There was not one piece of personal things anywhere he could see. No photos or random knick knacks of her past travels, no girly mugs in the kitchen, or impractical toiletries in the bathroom.  _ ‘She has to have at least a passport somewhere,’ _ he thinks with a huff.  _ ‘Erza said she was once in Joya and that would mean she’s crossed borders.’ _

In a last ditch effort to find something about her Natsu goes back over to her bed. A small crease has wedged itself between her eyes and it almost looked like she was in pain. _ ‘Did she take her pain meds before going to bed?’ _ His hand reaches out to brush her hair away from her nose. The pained expression fades from her features and a small noise escapes from between her lips; Happy stretches out next to her with a yawn. He cracks one eye open to peer up at Natsu.

“ _ Meow _ ,” he sounded annoyed.

“Go back to sleep you lazy cat,” Natsu retorts.

“Meow?”

“I am looking for her identification if you must know,” he huffs.

“Merow meow,” Happy shoots back with venom.

“Don’t you think I realize this is an invasion of privacy?” Natsu hisses at him.

“Mow, merow?” Happy deadpans.

“Listen here you blue asshole it’s not my fault that she lied. I know I don’t have proof, but Erza said she thought something was off. That Twilight bastard won’t tell us why he attacked her and it’s pissing me off that I can’t figure out what the fuck is going on in my town,” Natsu snaps and glares at his friend. “So, if I can just figure out who she is then I will be able to sleep better. Because if something is up with her and it comes back on the guild it will be all my fault.”

“Me-ow,” Happy smirks at Natsu. Natsu opens his mouth to argue, but finds he doesn’t have an answer. Why  _ doesn’t  _ he tell Erza his suspicions? She ordered them to direct anything weird to her about this girl. Instead of answering Natsu just sticks his tongue out at Happy, who lays his head back down with a smug look on his face.

“Whatever,” Natsu rolled his eyes before moving down to look under the bed. A beat up old bag that was more holes than bag laid there. “What the…” Natsu pulls the bag out and sits back. The bag at one point must have been white, but it was so beat up and dirty that it was a dingy grey color now. Unzipping the bag carefully Natsu noticed that it glided like a brand new zipper.  _ ‘Weird, _ ’ once open Natsu looks inside to find a mess of newer looking clothes, a pair of worn boots, a few energy bars, and an envelope with no writing on it.

He rifled through the clothes to see that a few of the pieces were ones that she had bought here in Magnolia when Cana and Laki had dragged her out shopping. The right boot had a hole in the toe and the bars were smashed to pieces. It looked like she had just forgotten about this bag until he opened the envelope. “The hell?” he exclaimed a little too loudly. He looked up to find her still asleep just rolled over. Natsu took the wad of money out of the envelope and stared at it. He knew she was a popular bartender, but there was no way she made this much after paying her bills.

He counted it all out and she was close to three hundred thousand jewels. As quickly and quietly as he could Natsu stuffed the money back into the envelope, then back into the bag, before zipping it up and shoving it under the bed again. He stood up quickly and looked down at her sleeping form. Happy was cuddled up to her back without a care in the world. Natsu knew that his friend didn’t trust humans easily, he also knew that she has been personally attacked by Twilight Ogre two times now, but this amount of money meant something.

‘ _ A fake name, nothing in a search history, and a whole lotta cash...something is definitely going on here, _ ’ he thinks as he moves back to the couch. Knowing that there wasn’t anything he could do about this problem at the moment he lays down and throws a blanket over himself. Tomorrow he would start to piece things together.

~~~~Lucy; 2 Weeks Later

“Girl how are you feeling?” Cana asks over the roar of the crowd.

“Good! Better than ever!” Lucy smiles. She was finally back out on the floor and behind the bar. A lot of regulars were jumping at the chance to be served by her and it seemed her Backdraft shot was gaining popularity by the minute. Reedus was glad to have her back and Mira was excited to try out some new dishes in the kitchen.

“Glad to have you back out here!” Cana laughs before whisking away another round of shots. Laki and some other employee that Lucy just met named Kinana were out serving tables. Laxus was roaming around somewhere with Freed which left Natsu, Gray, and Bixlow on the door. Lucy found herself looking towards the door more often than not throughout the night. It felt like a never ending stream of people coming and going from the bar.

Just before they started working that night, Natsu had told Lucy that he was gonna stop being so overbearing. So Happy was hanging out with Makarov upstairs and Lucy was confused. She knew she should be glad that he wasn’t going to be climbing up the side of the building anymore, but she was also unhappy at the loss of their company. He seemed okay when he told her the news, but it felt like a wall was being built. The past week was the best sleep Lucy had gotten in years and as much as she hated to admit it, it was because of Natsu. The feeling of disconnect between them was upsetting to say the least, but she also knew it was for the better. 

Laki, Cana, and the new person Kinana kept her busy the whole night. Reedus and Mira were also constantly chatting with her between pours and Romeo came out on more than one occasion to check on her. Him and his dad felt bad about what happened to her that they cut their vacation short by a week. Which in turn made Lucy feel bad, but there wasn’t anything she could do to change it.

By the time the bar was empty and clean Lucy was worn out. “Reedus I gotta grab more cinnamon,” Lucy says before jumping over the bar. “I’ll be right back!” she hurries off to the storage room to grab her personal supply of cinnamon. They go through so much of it now that Mira has it marked down on the record sheets as ‘Lily’s Expense’. She pretends to root around to find it and smirks when she hears the doorknob turn. “Haven’t seen you all night,” she says as she turns around. “Too busy to talk to me now Nat--” she stops. “Gray?”

“Hey Lil, I’m ready when you are,” he seemed annoyed. Lucy blinked in surprise and then mentally chaisted herself for being so needy.

“Y-yeah sure um, give me a minute. I just have to restock the cinnamon and then I’m ready,” she turns around and grabs a bottle. She walks out behind him slowly while staring at the floor. When they get back to the bar Lucy quickly puts the bottle away, grabs her apron, and follows Gray out the door. Not once did she see that familiar mop of pink. Once outside they take off in the direction of the apartment in silence. 

The silence was unnerving to say the least. Usually Gray was good for making small talk to pass the time, but tonight he looked positively angry. Once the apartment building was in sight Lucy couldn’t stand it anymore, “Gray I--”

“Lil you’d tell me if you were in trouble, right?”

“W-what?” she says dumbly. Gray stopped walking and was staring up at the sky, a few of the brighter stars shone through all the street light. “T-trouble? What do you mean?”

“What a fucking pain in my ass,” Gray growls. Lucy flinches back and looks down at the river. A few small fish are swimming lazily with the current. “I just,” he sighed deeply. “Are you in any kind of trouble?”

That cold, icy feeling shot down her spine. “Not that I’m aware of lately?” she says with a stupid smile trying to convince him everything was fine.

“You runnin’ from something?”

“Gray,” she deflects, “what is this about?” A sudden feeling of fear jolts through her, a few stray memories pass through her mind.

“It’s just--nothing you know what? Forget I said anything because I think flame brain had too much to drink or didn’t workout hard enough to burn off his stupid. So forget it Lil,” he stops in front of the door. “I’m sorry...goodnight.” Gray turns to leave without waiting for her to get inside. Lucy quickly opens and shuts the door while trying to quell her rising fear. 

Up in the apartment she goes around checking the windows and setting up books to alert her of an intruder. She checks that the door is locked again before pushing the desk chair up against it. “I’m losing my edge…” she mutters to herself as she draws the final curtain. Lucy pulls her bag out from under the bed and unzips the side pocket. A small locket is tucked away safely wrapped in a satin handkerchief. Lucy rubs the satin between her fingers and that old pang of despair wraps itself around her heart.  

Lucy unwraps the locket and gently opens it to peer down at an old worn picture of her mother. She’ll never forget the first time a friend of her father’s said she looked just like her mother. The absolute rage her father showed and the terrible accusations he threw at both her and her mother still echoed in her nightmares. At the thought of her recurring nightmares Lucy pulled up short. “I...I haven’t had a single nightmare all week,” she says in wonder. “I haven’t been checking my door or windows...when is the last time I mapped out an escape route?” she whispers to herself.

“Oh no,” she moans softly as tears threaten to spill. She always did hate that no matter what emotion she was feeling tears were always close behind. “Oh no, no, no, no,  _ no _ ,” a sob works it way up her throat. Lucy tore through the rest of her bag to check on everything, she threw out the old boots and restocked it with a new pair she bought a few weeks ago. She also grabbed out a few canned goods and shoved them into the bag as well. Lucy continued to clutch the locket to her chest as she frantically moved around the place.

“It’s almost August which means I’ve been here for four months already?!” Lucy runs her fingers through her hair. A few pieces stick out and a nervous tick formed in her eye as she paced around. “Four months? That can’t be right--no I wouldn’t stay in one place for four month!” She finally breaks down and from inside the new pair of boots she dumps out a phone. She got it at a corner store in the last small town she passed through, but never turned it on. “I need answers and a plan,” she finally settled on before dialing the familiar number and waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe how close to the reveal we are! :)
> 
> Please review/kudos if you like what you're reading
> 
> Thanks!


	11. Questions Lead to Investigations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I probably won't be posting for a little while since I have to pack/move this week. Thank you to everyone that is reading and enjoying my story, I see you and I love you all :)

~~~~Erza

“So,” Juvia was in a foul mood. “Let’s try this one more time.” She kicks the Twilight Ogre minion in the ribs. “What can you tell me about your operations? What does Mitchel or Jose or whoever have against Fairy Tail now?”

Erza stood back with Gray to give Juvia space to work. She really was the best at extraction, next to Natsu of course. Speaking of that idiot, “Gray what’s been going on with Natsu the past few days?”

Gray scowls and shrugs his shoulders, “hell if I know. Ever since Lily got hurt a few weeks back he has been crazy. It almost reminds me of two years ago…” he trailed off in thought. “But different somehow.”

A loud sob echoes around the room and they both look over to find Juvia standing on the man’s head. “Different how?” she asks concerned. Two years ago when they lost a few of their friends to a Twilight raid Natsu had almost self-destructed. It had almost cost the guild its reputation as well.

Gray shrugs again before pulling out a carton of cigarettes, he puts one in his mouth without lighting it. “Dunno how to describe it. Have you ever seen him when he’s with Lily?”

Erza thought about it for a moment as she watched Juvia pick the man up by the front of his shirt and pinned him against a wall. “No, I guess not. Usually when I’m near her it’s awkward.”

“Gee I wonder why,” he replied sarcastically. Erza rolled her eyes and scowled back at him. “Listen Erza we get it. The circumstances were strange.” Gray’s fingers twitch as he plays with his lighter. “But you gotta understand she had managed to charm everyone by the time you rolled around with the accusations. Hell even Laxus has taken a shine to her.” He flicks the lighter on and off.

“Say that again!” Juvia suddenly snaps. Gray and Erza turn their attention back to the task at hand.

“The Heartfilia fortune!” the man wails. 

“What about it?” Erza asks finally.

“The-the last thing I heard be-before I came here!” he struggles in Juvia’s grasp. “A rumor!”

“Juvia,” Erza says firmly and the other woman drops the man into a chair. He cowers as the three Fairy Tail members hover over him. “What does a rich man like Jude Heartfilia have to do with us?”

“I-I don’t know the details! I o-overheard Mitchel talking with someone o-on the phone a week before I came here!” 

Erza did the math, whatever was said in that conversation happened almost three and a half weeks ago. “What did you overhear?”

“M-Mitchel was saying something a-about the money! Apparently Twilight Ogre was about to-to come into a lot of money!” he flinches when Gray kneels down in front of him.

“Oh? So you try to kidnap and gods know what else a Fairy Tail member to...do what exactly? Convince a rich man to hand over his fortune?” he cocks his head and stares at the pathetic guy. 

“N-no! I don’t know! I-I mean I didn’t know she was Fairy Tail I swear!” He flinched back when Gray got closer to his face. "I swear! I-I only heard about Fairy T-Tail in passing! I don't know anything else!"

“Ah so you were just attempting to harm a young woman regardless of her connections?” Erza finally decides.

“Yes,” he moans as Juvia thrusts her pocket knife under his chin.

“I’ll call my team and have them pick him up for processing. You my dear Twilight moron are under arrest,” Erza takes her phone out to call her office. “And Gray,” she looks at her friend, “watch Natsu and make sure he doesn’t do anything...reckless.” Gray lets out a long sigh, but agrees.

~~~~Gray

“Gray-sama!” Juvia sing-songs from the bathroom. “Juvia could use some help,” a salacious tone coats her words. Gray tries to play along as he enters the bathroom and finds his girlfriend in the tub holding a wash rag. “Gray-sama?” this time she sounds worried.

“Turn around,” he commands and she complies. Gray strips off the last of his clothes before joining her in the tub. The water was warm and inviting, it was just what his tense body needed. He took the rag from Juvia and started to run it over her back, she hummed in appreciation. Gray peppers kisses along her shoulder blades before pulling her back against him. They stayed like that for a while; he knew how much she hated being that other person. 

Gray remembered the first time Juvia interrogated a person. She jumped at the chance to prove her worth as a member of Fairy Tail. It was some low level player from a dark guild that wasn’t in operation anymore--thanks to her. Gray, Lisanna, Natsu, and Bisca were there to back her up if things got bad. They didn’t realize it only got bad if she wanted it to be that way. Natsu had to take Lisanna and Bisca out of the room. Gray stayed and watched her extract the evidence they needed to put the guild down permanently. It was violent and ruthless and the complete opposite of who everyone thought Juvia was as a person. But the master did pick her up after Fairy Tail had broken apart another dark guild where she was a top member.

“Gray-sama?” her voice was small and distant. Her arm came up to wrap around his neck and he couldn’t help but do as she asked. He leaned his head down and kissed her thoroughly. When they broke apart she still looked sad.

“You did so good today,” he murmurs against her hair. He runs his hands up and down her sides in a way he knows she loved. Gray moved down to kiss her neck and she arched into it with a sigh. “You are so good.” He continued to whisper sweet things against her skin and little by little Juvia relaxed and the creases on her face disappeared. When they got out of the tub Juvia went to lay down for a while. Gray stood in the doorway of their room and waited for her to fall asleep completely.

Gray sighs before heading downstairs to the kitchen. Erza was going to be busy for a while trying to find a connection between Twilight Ogre and the Heartfilia family. He couldn’t forget that gramps had said something about it before back closer to when Lily first showed up. Taking out his phone Gray sighs again in annoyance before calling Natsu.

~~~~Lucy

“Anything else I can help you with Princess?” the voice of Lucy’s informant and underground connection purred in her ear. 

“Leo...shut up,” she whispers harshly at the man. 

“I am wounded,” he said in mock hurt. “You don’t call me for months! Here I was thinking you were  _ dead _ ,” he did sound hurt that time. “Then out of the blue here you are again telling me you need information on a  _ dark guild _ ? What am I supposed to think?”

Lucy sighs, “I know I’m sorry it’s been a crazy couple of months. After what happened in Joya and the Capitol--”

“Someplace you knew you shouldn’t have been,” he interrupts.

“I was just nervous. I didn’t want Father to find you...again,” she ignores the interruption. “We are getting so close to the end of this Leo. One more year, one more year and the money is mine.”

“Princess…” Leo’s voice sounded so sad.

“One more year and he can’t ever--” Lucy chokes on a sob. “I won’t ever have to get married.” Leo was quiet on the other line. He knew the whole story about Lucy’s past. If it wasn’t for him and his network she never would have gotten out from under her father’s thumb. “I’ll leave in a month. By the time the holiday season rolls around I’ll be off the grid again. So I probably won’t contact you until next year.”

“Lucy please don’t do that. Come stay with me!” he begs. “You know Aries is dying to see you again. And Aquarius has been so moody since the last time we talked. She’s gonna be thrilled to know your okay!”

“Leo, no I won’t do that again.” Her fingers ghosted over her hip and the gunshot wound that now lived there. “Once the next year is up and I’m finally twenty-one I’ll come back. But until then...thank you for the information.” She doesn’t give him a chance to protest or say goodbye before she hangs up the phone and then breaks it in half. Lucy moves to the kitchen to make tea and think about what she’s learned. 

“Twilight Ogre is not a bar, but a dark guild,” she takes out a cup and some tea leaves. “So  _ that’s _ the organization Father was talking about working with,” she puts water into the kettle and sets it on the stove. “And...and Jose is-is the…” tears well up in her eyes thinking back to that man. “I can’t believe Father would do this...why?” her words were a strangled whisper. 

The kettle starts to whistle pulling Lucy out of her thoughts. She makes a cup of tea and then sits down at the table. She had two hours before the sun would come up and she’d have to go back to work. “I need to tell Mira that I’ll be leaving next month,” she rolls her neck and groans. “Ugh I gotta sleep outside again. So I don’t need the bathroom stuff beyond my toothbrush--I need to find ingredients to make my toothpaste again,” Lucy starts rambling about the preparations she’ll have to make in order to survive a few months out in the wilderness. “Maybe I’ll just go live in Iceberg!” she huffs in agitation before abandoning her cup in favor of sleep.

~~~~Lucy; The Next Day

“Girl you look awful,” Cana says from behind the bar.

“Thanks,” Lucy replies drily.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Lisanna asks. Laki and Kinana were sitting at the bar drinking and listening to the conversation.

“No,” Lucy runs her hands down her face.

“It is Natsu?” Cana asks without any suggestive tones.

“Wh-what?” Lucy asks incredulous. “No, what does he have to do with anything?”

“Well…” Laki starts and then gives the other girls a look. “After you know,” she waves her hand in Lucy’s direction, “Natsu got pretty defensive and maybe a little--”

“Overbearing?” Cana supplied.

“Overbearing, sure, around you. No one could get close without his consent.” Laki looks at Lucy with a tilt of her head. “He literally lived with you for two weeks. He brought Happy over!”

“Mhm,” Lisanna muses, “then something happened a few days ago?” It was a prompt, but Lucy really didn’t know why Natsu up and left the apartment the way he did.

“Honestly I don’t understand that boy,” Lucy shrugs. “But it was troubling and now Gray is acting weird, too.” She slumps into the seat next to Kinana. “I don’t think I have ever had this kind of problem before.”

“Fighting with the boyfriend?” came the jovial voice of Bixlow.

“Bixlow!” Lisanna scolds him. He only laughs before ruffling Lucy’s hair and planting a noisy kiss on Lisanna’s cheek. “Knock it off you creep!”

“That’s not anyway to speak to the love of your life now is it?” he asks with a laugh.

“Go away Bixlow!” Cana says right before she throws a full bottle of tequila at his head. Bixlow catches it and runs off with the liquor.

“Cana we needed that for tonight. It’s Friday!” Lucy complains.

“Eh, whatever we have plenty of other bottles. Looks like we’re drinkin’ the good stuff tonight,” Cana winks at her. The owner and Mira walk down from the second floor talking animatedly and Lucy was up and across the bar before any of the girls could ask her anymore questions. 

“Makarov-san, Mira can I talk to you real quick?” Lucy asks. “In private.”

“Oh Lily-chan!” the owner says brightly. “Of course, of course child right this way. Mira was going to help we with some stuff down in the library. Come with us!”

“Library?” Lucy asks in shock. “There’s a library here?”

“Yeah! Come on we’ll show you,” Mira says brightly. They all begin to walk to the stage. “You see there is a door back behind the stage that leads to the basement. We actually have another upstairs this way as well!” she beams. “It’s were we keep a few rooms in case members get too drunk and can’t make it home.”

“Also a few storage rooms, you know for Juvia and Lisanna’s musical instruments as well as other various member’s equipment.” Makarov waves his hand around at the doors behind the stage.

“Oh wow I’ve never come back here before,” Lucy says in amazement. “I didn’t realize how big this place is.” Mira opens a door and flicks on the lights. A stairwell going very far down was before them. “Oh gods,” her heart thumped heavily in her chest.

“No need to fear Lily,” Mira says with a smile. “I promise I won’t let you fall,” she held out her hand. Lucy stared at it and felt like crying, this place had a lot of secrets and unknown uses but the people still managed to be so kind. Lucy doesn’t remember a time when kindness was given so freely to her. She takes Mira’s hand and they both go down behind the owner.

“You don’t need to worry about these doors that branch off,” Makarov explains. “They’re mostly cobwebs and dust.” A few doors sporadically pop up on either side of the stairs as they walk down. The corridor grew colder the further down they go, “I realize this must be strange, but the first master of this gui--bar loved to read. So she had this library dug out below the bar after the first time the building fell down.”

“This building has fallen down?! More than once?!” Lucy practically shouts.

“Master,” Mira chides. “Don’t scare her like that. Lily this bar has been through a couple bad storms and when Magnolia was first founded there was basically a mini civil war and the building was demolished. But as you can see,” Mira says just as light floods the stairs. “We are perfectly fine,” she finishes with a flourish as they step into a giant chamber filled to the brim with books.

“Oh wow,” Lucy breathes out softly. Mira let’s her hand go and Lucy begins to wander around the room. Mira and the owner go to a desk that was tucked away under the stairs and begin talking quietly to themselves. There were so many books and most of them looked ancient. Running her hand across the spines Lucy began to feel that longing again.  _ ‘If I could just stay here, tell them the  _ truth _ …’ _ she shakes her head sadly at the thought.  _ ‘No I can’t do that again,’ _ her other hand ghosts over her hip. _ ‘I remember last time I was foolish enough to do that.’ _

“What was it you needed to talk to us about Lily-chan?” Makarov asks.

“O-oh, right,” Lucy gives the books one last look before turning around. “I’m leaving Magnolia.”

“What?” Mira gasps.

“Oh?” Makarov looks pensive. “When child?”

This was the part she hated, but she hated it more when she just ran without saying anything. “N-next month around this time.”

“But...but why?” Mira was close to tears. “You haven’t even been here half a year,” she tries to reason.

“I know.”

“Okay.”

“Master!”

“Thank you for understanding,” Lucy bows her head. 

“Do you know where you are going?”

“Master!” Mira shouts again. He merely continues to gaze at Lucy with that pensive expression.

“Maybe Caelum? I haven’t been to an island before,” Lucy lies. 

“Then you wouldn’t be against someone traveling with you to the harbor?” Makarov bargains.

“Makarov-san,” Lucy sighs. “Really I’m fine, I’ve done a lot of traveling as you know. I don’t need a babysitter. Besides, people have their own lives and they don’t have to worry about me.”  

“Lily you can’t leave!” Mira interjects with a huff. “You just got here! And you fit in so well so you can’t leave,” she walks over to Lucy and pulls her into a hug. “And we love you, you can’t just leave.” Lucy doesn’t hug her back, instead she gently untangles herself from Mira and holds her at arm's length. 

“I have to go Mirajane. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in one place this long before,” she admits truthfully.

“So, so then let me take you to the harbor at least--like the master wants,” she argues. Lucy curses her softness as she reluctantly agrees. “A-and who knows? Maybe you’ll change your mind and instead of leaving we can just have a nice trip together!” Mira tries to smile. 

“Mhm...I’m going to head back up now Makarov-san. I need to help finish getting everything ready for tonight Mira.” Lucy lets her go and begins to head back to the stairs. “Thank you,” she says again before mounting the steps.

Lucy doesn’t tell anyone else about her plans as they work through the night. By midnight she is feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Everything that she has learned and done in the last twenty-four hours caught up with her and she couldn’t seem to make her feet move as quickly as her mind. Reedus and Cana have both thrown her puzzled looks after the third wrong drink order. Macao and Romeo both made the decision to run all of her food for her, and even Bixlow was worried.

When the bar finally closed at two in the morning Mira sent her home. Lucy snuck out the back exit by the storage room and began to trudge back to the apartment. She felt a little bad about dodging Gray like that, but she really wasn’t up for the company. Once back in her apartment Lucy did her usual check to make sure nothing was out of place. She shrugged out of her clothes in the living room without a care before heading into the bathroom. 

Really she should have known better.

~~~~Natsu

Natsu overheard the girl ask gramps and Mira for a private word from the second floor balcony. He watched as they made their way back behind the stage before following them. Bixlow tried to give him hell for a comment she had apparently made earlier, but he ignored his friend. 

Over the past couple of weeks Natsu had been trying to figure out what could possibly be her secret that he hardly talked to anyone. After he was sure she wasn’t going to spontaneously expire due to her injuries he booked it out of her apartment and back to his place.  When he exhausted all of his leads he finally talked to Gray. His friend was majorly pissed at the implication he was making, but Gray at least heard him out.

Then when Gray called him yesterday with the new information from that Twilight asshole, Natsu got antsy. He broke into Erza office while she was out on another case to contact Jellal. The news was promising, but still was going to take a few more days at least. So, until Jellal comes back with his scouting and information teams Natsu was going to have to wait. Which he wasn’t very good at and was why he was now following her down to the library.

“I’m leaving Magnolia.”

The words were like stones in his stomach. Mira started to cry and for some infuriating reason the old bastard was going to just let her walk out!

“Maybe Caelum? I haven’t been to an island before,” her words felt like knives on his skin. Mira was pleading with her to stay and the master seemed unfazed by the whole thing. Natsu wanted to so badly go down the last few steps and give her a piece of his mind. He wanted to yell and scream and demand the truth, he wanted to shake her or hug her he couldn’t tell. Above all he knew he desperately wanted to kiss her and the thought of it alone made his blood boil. 

Mira was still trying to convince her to stay, ‘ _ please convince her Mira… _ ’ he thinks. The stairwell was too tight and the air was stale this far underground.  _ ‘Please don’t let her go,’ _ his mind wars against itself.

“...I need to help finish getting everything ready for tonight Mira. Thank you,” she was coming back. Natsu turns around and sprints back up the stairs as quietly as he could. He manages to shove himself into a storage room before she makes it back to the top of the steps. Once he hears her footfalls fade he opens the door to peak out. He moves out from behind the stage quickly and books it to the kitchen where he helps run food and keep the bar stocked for the rest of the night.

He listened to Macao and Romeo complain about her not looking well and he even heard Bixlow ask her if she was alright. She looked sad, but told everyone that she was just tired or had a bad dream that kept her up all night. He knew a thing or two about nightmares. He was currently living one with the knowledge of her leaving and still being no closer to any answers about who she is or why she came here in the first place. 

By the time the bar closed she looked positively dead and Natsu wanted nothing more than to take her home. His mind wouldn’t let him forget his suspicions and made him keep his distance. He watched as Mira pulled her to the side and after as she practically ran out the back door. Alarmed Natsu went over to Mira, “hey where did she go?”

A sly smirk crossed the womans face, “oh? Who Natsu-san?”

“Mira,” he warns through gritted teeth. She simply laughed at him before telling him that she sent Lily home early. With one look at Gray over by the stage with Juvia he knew that she skipped out on a bodyguard. “Tell ‘em I gotta go,” he says over his shoulder as he runs out the back as well. Mira simply smiles as she watches him go.

Once he is at her place Natsu doesn’t even wait to be let in. He climbs up to her window and moves to open the window. An unexpected sight, however, stops him cold. She was standing in her living room in nothing but her underwear with her hair down. Natsu was not prepared for the sight. His eyes trail down her body and he almost burst through the window to demand answers. That was a gunshot wound on her left hip and from the looks of her back she has been through hell. Upon a closer look he saw strange markings around her ankles and there was a concerning scar on the top of her right foot.

She doesn’t even notice him as she walks into her bathroom and shuts the door. Natsu softly knocks his head against her window, “what the fuck happened to you?”


	12. Investigations Lead to Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY!!! I just moved and my internet wasn't working and I have been super distracted these past couple of weeks. I apologize sincerely for not posting the next chapter sooner! 
> 
> The Title for the last chapter was supposed to be Questions Lead to Investigations
> 
> I hope you enjoy the new chapter! xoxo
> 
> (P.S. btw this is it....the reveal)

~~~~Lucy

The rest of July went by in a blur as Lucy tried hard to keep her leaving a secret until it was too late to stop her and appear normal. August came in with a breeze that finally blew away the summer heat. The cooler atmosphere only propelled people to be out more often and for longer periods. The start of her fifth and final month in Magnolia brought out a circus from the Capital. Lisanna begged Lucy to go with her like they did the flower festival all those months ago.

“Please Lily-chan?” she pleads with doe eyes. “Juvia, Gray, Bixlow, Evergreen, Freed, and Natsu already said yes! It will be like last time with the addition of my idiot boyfriend.” At the mention of Bixlow, Lisanna’s face flushed a pretty pink color. 

“Y-yeah I guess that’s f-fine,” she had been stuttering more after she made up her mind to leave. She had already bought a new burner phone and it was stowed away in her boots under the bed. She even splurged on good oil to keep her whip from cracking in the coming winter months. If her luck was as bad as she knew it was there was no way she wasn’t going to have another run-in with the Twilight organization.

“Yay! Juvia will be so excited! I’ll tell Gray to swing by and pick you up! It’s next week on Wednesday! Bye!” Lisanna offers a hurried hug before darting off to find the recently sullen man. 

“Why the long face?”

“Oh!” Lucy turns to find Max coming up behind her. “Max you s-startled me!” she scolds with no real malice.

He laughs, “sorry Lil, you doin’ okay though? You seemed a little distant lately. Fight with Natsu?”

“Why does  _ everyone  _ think I’m fighting with Natsu?” she almost screeched. She huffs out an indignant sigh and crosses her arms across her chest. “No I’m just tired. Been having a few nightmares recently--must have been something I ate.”

“Mhm well if you need a shoulder to cry on,” he laughs again as Lucy swats at his retreating figure. 

_ ‘Speaking of Natsu…’ _ she thinks as she looks around the bar for pink. _ ‘I should probably tell him that I’m leaving. He deserves that much from me since I’ve been a lousy friend otherwise.’  _ Romeo calls out to her from the kitchen asking if she could grab him some flour and thyme from the storage room. “Sure thing kid!” Lucy replies before walking to the room.  _ ‘Guess I’ll look for him later. Maybe convince him to walk me to the apartment so I can say it away from the bar.’ _

She goes into the room and begins to rummage around in their stock. Wakaba never did put anything back in the same place. Lucy finds the bottle of thyme and sets it down on a crate before turning back around. The snick of the door lock catching was all the warning Lucy had before she felt someone reach out for her. That familiar tingle runs down her spine and she relaxes back into the grip.

“You keep tryin’ to earn another bruised face don’t ya?” Lucy laughs shakily. While July went by in a blur she sometimes saw him looking at her from across the bar. He never approached her other than the bare minimum. She never had the nerve to go to him since she decided to leave. This was the first time she has felt his touch since her run in with Twilight Ogre. She didn’t realize until that moment that he sent her heart into overdrive because of her longing. It was a longing to be loved, she could admit that much to herself what was harder to admit was what exactly it was her heart wanted from Natsu.

When he doesn’t respond Lucy peeks behind her and comes face to face with a very troubling sight. Natsu looks absolutely haggard and sickly. “Natsu,” she breathes out his name before turning around completely. Her free hand rushes up to cup his cheek. “Wh...what’s wrong? Are you sick? Should we tell Mira?” she babbles. When he still doesn’t answer her Lucy’s heart sputters in her chest. “T-tell me w-what to do. Natsu you l-look so...so--”

“Tell me your name,” he rasps. It wasn’t a question, but it sounded like a plea. “I’ve been tryin’ and tryin’ to wrap my head around it you see,” he laughs bitterly. “I know you’re lying to me. I just can’t figure out why. Gray thinks I’m being an ass.” He gives her a long look that had Lucy wishing to be struck dead. “Lily,” he rolls the name around on his tongue and it’s a lead weight on Lucy’s soul.

She remembers how she felt the first time he ever said that fake name. How it had felt like a burden, she just didn’t realize he was the one carrying it. The grief was all consuming as she continued to stand there in stunned silence. Natsu either didn’t notice or didn’t care that she was speechless as he continued on. “I thought...I thought that maybe something had happened to you in whatever place you came from. I thought that maybe you were just ashamed or embarrassed, but you’d eventually come around.

“But then you just kept on bein’ Lily. I was hoping that the other girls would convince you that--that you’d be safe here. I thought with Gray and me standing by you’d feel protected and for a moment…” his grip on her wrist tightened and it hurt. Lucy ignored the pain, she’d felt worse anyways. “For just  _ one moment _ I thought that maybe you felt what I felt.”

“N-Natsu,” tears well up fast and fell unabashed as her voice broke over his name. There it was, the thing that Lucy feared more than anything else. She tried so hard to avoid people and avoid being seen for so long.  _ ‘No friends, no lovers, no witnesses,’ _ was the mantra that she repeated during the cold nights spent outside.  _ ‘No friends, no lovers, no witnesses,’ _ was what her mind screamed at her as that damned gun shot her through the hip. It rang out as the screams were pulled from her lips in that hell so long ago.

“And I know you’re leaving and lying  _ again  _ about where you’re running to. So tell me one more lie,” he pleads. He sounded so small, so unlike himself that Lucy clutched at his ever present scarf and pulled him down. He went willingly as Lucy brought his face to hers. His eyes looked so tired and Lucy knew that she looked the same; she never noticed that he had nightmares, too. 

“One more lie?” her tongue felt thick. His breath fanned out across her face and made her lips tingle. Natsu nods his head slightly and ends up bumping his forehead against hers. “Nothing...you were nothing--we were nothing,” her voice trips and wavers over the words. Her mind screams the mantra, but it was drowned out by his lips on hers. Urgency and desperation tinged the kiss as Natsu pushed her up against the shelf. 

It was so hot, everything about him was overwhelming and made Lucy dizzy. The exhaustion that weighed them both down was nowhere to be seen. Natsu trails his lips down her jaw to her neck while his fingers grasp at her hips. He swirls his thumb around the bullet wound on her hip. He knew, Lucy didn’t know how he did, but Natsu knew about it. “Please,” she begs. Natsu growls in response before shoving his knee between her legs causing her to whimper. He brings his lips back up to hers and puts them both back into a crushing kiss. One where she knew the feeling would tingle long after she left Magnolia.

She twines her fingers into his hair and marvels at how soft it was, she always thought it’d be course. Only when she well and truly needed air does Lucy tug at his hair to pull him back. That look from so long ago in the kitchen of the apartment is back in his eyes. Lucy knew--she  _ knew _ \--even back then that it was the start of the end for her. They didn’t move and the tension in the room only grew. “Please change your mind,” he asks.

Maybe it was because she felt so damn lonely or maybe it was the roaring in her veins, but Lucy wanted to say yes. It was on the tip of her tongue, but phantom pain radiates from her hip and foot and back and everywhere else that she’d ever been violated. Her own body raged against this need, this desire to love and be loved in return. “Please let me go,” she says softly. Feeling contrary, Natsu pressed up against her harder and she couldn’t stop the breathy moan. “Please,” she says softly again. 

And he does. Natsu backs away from her with a wounded look before leaving her all alone in the storage room again. 

Furiously wiping at her eyes and desperately attempting to straighten out her clothing Lucy grabs the flour and thyme and hastens back to the kitchen. Natsu was nowhere to be seen.

~~~~Natsu

“Please,” her voice was weak and filled with need. Natsu wanted more than anything to make her see reason. He wanted to spill all of his secrets and then maybe she’d believe that whatever haunted her couldn’t hurt her here. He wanted to tell her to take him with her because never before had he felt so desperately the need to be with someone. But he let her go and felt like a fool for thinking she could actually feel the way he did.

He stormed out of the storage room and brushed past Evergreen and Elfman. Bixlow tried to stop him, but Natsu simply ignored all of them as he walked out the front door. He had no idea where it was he wanted to go until his feet took him down a familiar path. 

The cemetary was small and clean. All the headstones were lined up perfectly in an effort to make the place seem less gloomy. Natsu hops the gate and goes straight over to the familiar stones. Five stones altogether were what was left of his friends. Of course he missed all of them, but two particular headstones always managed to drag him into the deepest part of his depression. “Hey Al, hey Bisca,” he sighed before sitting between them.

Natsu knew that he should go to therapy, enough of the girls had begged him two years ago. But he didn’t know how to put his anger into words. Anger at Twilight Ogre for the tragedy that took Auska-chan’s parents from her, anger at Erza for getting the meeting point wrong, but mostly it’s the anger at himself for being too weak. So, he talks to his dead friends about everything. “So yeah...I know I’m in over my head. And I know what you’d say Al,” he huffs. “But whatever it is that I feel for her is irrelevant. I need to tell Erza,” he looks at Bisca’s headstone.

“I hate this,” he pulls out his phone and sees that it was almost two in the morning. “Shit.”

“Natsu-san?” a small, sweet voice calls out to him. Natsu’s head snaps up to find the source of the voice.

“W-Wendy?!” he says incredulously. Two taller figures stand behind her slender one as she runs to meet up with Natsu. “Wendy!” she throws herself at Natsu with a laugh. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey Natsu,” he looks over Wendy’s head to see Jellal. 

“Lover boy,” he acknowledges. “Who’s tall, dark, and broody you got there with ya?” he eyes the other guy. Long black hair and all dark clothes the guy looked like a stereotypical bad guy.

“Natsu-san!” Wendy pulls his attention back to her. “He’s going to help us take down Twilight Ogre for good.”

“What?!” his heart kicked into overdrive at the thought. “How?”

“He’s my lead that Erza told you about a few months ago. A Twilight minion that deserted the organization. He wasn’t easy to track down, that’s why I teamed up with Wendy the best tracker in the guild. He is going to tell us the info we need to finally crack them Natsu,” the three Fairies looked at the headstones. “We finally have them.”

“Okay,” Natsu says, “let’s go.”

~~~~Lucy

“I’m going to help with the dishes!” Lucy yells over to Laki.

“Okie dokie!” she beams back before returning to sweeping. Cana and Kinana were helping Bixlow and Freed strongarm a few stragglers out the door as Lucy walked into the kitchen. 

“Oh, thanks Lily we could use some help back here,” Max says before almost dropping a stack of plates. 

“I got ya!” Lucy grabs half the stack and moves to set it down behind Wakaba. The men go back to inventory and prep work while Lucy does the nitty gritty work. Mira cycles in and out with Laxus close behind her. Every once and awhile Gray, Lisanna, and Juvia would bring back more dishes and Lucy kept on cleaning. Everything seemed normal until a strange buzz came from the front of the house.

Lucy peeked out the window to see Makarov and Erza out on the floor. “What…?” she murmurs to herself. Instead of going out to sate her curiosity, Lucy goes back to washing the dishes so she can get out as soon as possible. Another, louder, sound comes from the front of the house. This time Lucy ignores it as she places the last of the cups into the sanitizer and moves to check the spice rack for anything that needed to be refilled. 

“Lily!” Mira bursts into the kitchen. She startled Wakaba and Max and made Lucy jump back and smack her head on a shelf. “Go home. Now,” she turns to look at the two men. “Upstairs right now. The master needs you two.”

“Mira I need to finish inventory!” Max protests. A terrifying look that Lucy has never seen on the womans face before crosses Mira’s features. “Well I guess it can wait,” Max grabs Wakaba’s collar and drags him out of the kitchen.

“Lily, home. Now.” There was no room for negotiations or refusal. So instead of fighting the command Lucy hightails it out of the kitchen exit to the back of the building. Lucy’s heart was beating like a drum in her chest and she knew that after today, her heart was going to need a break. Her kiss with Natsu kept replaying in her head and it was causing her to lose focus. She was almost back to the apartment when she realized that she forgot her apron behind the bar.

“Damn, damn,  _ damn _ !” she curses as she turns around to go back to Fairy Tail. Lucy goes back through the kitchen door because she knew it was left unlocked until the last person left. Everything was as she left it, but something felt funny. Lucy knew this feeling well it was the sensation she got right before something bad was about to catch up with her. Out on the floor the bar was a mess, tables were still dirty, and instruments were still on the stage. “What the hell?” she whispers.

A burst of yelling is heard from upstairs back towards the office. Lucy freezes and waits for it to die down. Knowing that it was stupid and dangerous Lucy mentally cursed at herself as she crept up the stairs. The door to the office was cracked open and Lucy couldn’t believe how many people were crammed into Makarov’s office. “That is enough! All of you!” she heard Makarov yell.

A few scattered protests were heard, but the noise did stop. Lucy looks into the room from the crack and took an inventory of the people she could see. Juvia and Gray were closest to her hiding spot, Lisanna was next to her siblings, Nab, Wakaba, Max, Bixlow, and Laxus were scattered around the room. Lucy noticed a blue haired man and girl that she couldn’t place.

“Jellal-san you need to get to the point,” the blue haired girl said.

“I’m trying Wendy,” the blue haired man--Jellal--replied with a scowl thrown at someone across the room. “Okay fine. I won’t tell  you all the details, but we found a guy from Twilight Ogre to flip.” At the mention of the dark guild Lucy’s stomach dropped.

“Stop dancin’ around it!” Natsu growls. Lucy saw a flash of his pink hair as he came from around the desk and was followed by Erza. “Bring him out here!” Erza snaps at Natsu and Gray grumbles in annoyance. Jellal runs a hand down his face before turning and opening a secret door that Lucy hadn’t noticed before. Absolutely nothing in the world could prepare Lucy for the sight behind the door.

The sound of a mental door shutting, the wet sound of flesh on flesh, the pain and blood that was drawn out of her for so long came crashing through her mind as a man from her nightmares stepped through the door. There was no thinking, no plan as Lucy fled down the stairs and out the front door. Panic surged through her veins as she sprints down the streets to the apartment. Lucy doesn’t care as she throws open the door and rushes up the stairs to the unit. She pulls the bag from under her bed, she grabs a few random items she hadn’t packed yet, and threw a wad of jewels onto the desk with the keys before booking it back down and out of the building.

Lucy chose the shortest route to the train station and startled the late night operator. “I need the next ticket outta here!” she says breathlessly. “ _ Now! _ ” The operator issues her a ticket for the next train and Lucy throws more money at him before bolting back into the terminal. She makes sure several people see her get onto the train before walking back off. She makes a mad dash for the train exit and finds herself back out in the wilderness. 

She couldn’t look back because going back would mean death. Lucy sobs as she runs away once again, this time from everything she could have ever wanted. ‘ _ I can’t go back. I won’t go back to that hell! _ ’ Tree branches scratch at her face and clothes as the train whistle blows. She didn’t even know where that train was heading, but she was going to go in the opposite direction. 

As Lucy ran into the night she mourned everything that Magnolia could have been.

~~~~Natsu

When Jellal finally opened the door and that man stepped out into the light Natsu was ready to pounce. “Who is this Jellal-san?” Juvia asks.

“Names Gajeel,” the unknown man gruffs. His arms were crossed as he stared everyone in the room down. “People called me Black Steel Gajeel in the underworld and in the organization.”

“So...you were in Twilight Ogre?” Laxus asks. Gajeel makes a noise of confirmation as he leans against the door. “How can we trust that you’re going to help bring them down then?” A few other people make sounds of agreement. A very dark look crosses Gajeel’s face as he turns to look out the window.

“Gajeel-kun?” the old man says firmly. 

“There was this girl…” his voice was thick. He was refusing to look at anyone in the room. “She was--she was so young the first time I met her. Her dad was a real asshole.”

“Gajeel-san,” Wendy walks over to him and puts her hand on his arm. “You gotta tell them the truth.” His body language was tense and Natsu didn’t like Wendy being so close to him.

“Anyone here heard of the Heartfilia family?”

“Heartfilia?” both Juvia and Erza say.

“What does that rich family have to do with us?” Gray asks. Gajeel grinds his teeth and growls.

“Let me try...this is not going to be a pretty story,” he warns. “About five or six years ago I had made it up through the ranks of Twilight Ogre. I joined when I was a punk kid and didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Gajeel didn’t realize how close to home that statement hit a lot of people. “Jellal told me you interrogated a couple of the low tier members and that one flipped on Mitchel? Mitchel is a mid tier member that is quickly becoming a higher ranked member of the organization. 

“The last thing I really heard about him is that he was gettin’ real friendly with Jose and a couple of the other top members. Basically he wanted my spot. Anyways,” he sighed and runs a hand down his face. “Anyways about the Heartfilia’s the wife, Layla I think, was the actual holder of the family fortune. Her husband, Jude, was power hungry and a little crazy in my opinion. Being as high up as I was I had privilege to almost all of Twilight’s history. I had to have been eight years old when Jude Heartfilia contracted Twilight Ogre to kill his wife.”

“ _ What? _ ” Mira gasps. “I heard it was an accident!”

“She was sick! The news was that she died from a wasting disease,” Evergreen growls.

“You tryin’ to play us as fools?” Macao yelled. It was chaos and it was also starting to irritate Natsu.

“Guys shut the  _ fuck  _ up!” he finally snaps. “Gajeel get to the point.”

Jellal and Wendy continued to stand silently next to Gajeel. Erza and the master both looked mad, but at least they remained silent. When everyone calmed back down he continued with the story.

“Right, so like I said Jude had his wife killed and that first interaction led to more and more work being given to Twilight. Jude’s debt to Twilight became substantial and suddenly he found that he couldn’t pay.” A dark look crosses his face and Gajeel looks like he doesn’t want to say anymore.

“Go on son,” the master prompts sternly. “Tell me why he had his wife killed.”

“Money, he thought that if his wife was dead her vast inheritance would move over to him. But he was wrong.”

“Lucy,” Erza says suddenly. “Something about a daughter--their only child. Lucy Heartfilia did she...did she inherit the fortune?”

Gajeel nods, “yeah, but here’s the catch the money was tied up in a lot of legal red tape. Lucy wouldn’t be able to touch the money until she was twenty-one. So her father--” his voice faltered. “Her lovely father was going to sell her to Twilight Ogre.” Every woman in the room hissed and spat curses at that. Gajeel’s hand tightened slightly on his arm, the only indication that he realized that this room was full of dangerous people.

“How old?” Lisanna asks. Bixlow puts his hands on her shoulders, but Natsu could see she was ready to jump on Gajeel. “H-how old was she when he sold her?”

For the first time since Natsu met him Gajeel looked remorseful. “If the documents I read are to be believed...Jude sold her the first time around the time I joined Twilight Ogre. Lucy Heartfilia should be about the same age as me so...fifteen?” Gajeel squeezed his arm again before looking out at the room. “I didn’t...I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just blindly following whatever order I was given. I have robbed, beaten, and almost killed people for that organization. But when they asked me to--” his voice broke.

“When they asked me to beat that girl...she couldn’t defend herself. They chained her up, stripped her down, and beat her constantly. When they threw me down there I tried my damndest to not cause permanent damage. But still I know that wherever she is she is terrified of me, too.”

“Why did you have to beat her?” it was Mira, she sounded so sad and tired. Natsu hazard a glance at Gray and Juvia. Juvia looked sick, but Natsu wasn’t sure if it was because of Gajeel’s story or her own.

“Jose said...he said it was to make her more willing to go along with their plan. If I didn't do it...” he didn't need to finish everyone understand that he would be dead if he disobeyed.

“Who’s plan?”

“Jude, Jose, and some guy named Geoffry,” before anyone could react Juvia was across the room and smacked Gajeel across the face.

“That’s a lie!” Gray and Natsu both rush to grab her arms. “That’s a lie! Geoffry is dead! He’s dead!” she was screaming. 

“Juvia!” Gray managed to wrap his arms around her and pull her back.

“Erza-san you said--!” Juvia chokes on a sob.

“What the hell is going on?” Natsu roars as he helps drag the hysterical woman.

“It ain’t a lie! I don’t know what beef you got with that man but it ain’t with me!” Gajeel hollers in outrage. 

“Stop! Everyone just  _ stop _ ! Juvia we will have to have a conversation at another time! Gajeel don’t you even look at that door. I’ll put a bullet in your back faster than you can run!” Erza threatens. “Tell me what I need to know to put these men down,  _ now _ !”

“Fine!” Gajeel bellows. “They wanted Lucy Heartfilia to marry Jose so that when she turned twenty-one the money would belong to Twilight Ogre! They beat her, tortured her, and--and raped her! Repeatedly for two years! I fucking lost it okay? I couldn’t stomach what they were doing to her! But my gods she never broke,” he punched the wall behind him. “She never broke and that pissed Jose off so much.”

“Where is she now Gajeel?” Evergreen asks. 

“She escaped,” the fight quickly faded out of the man. “Her father demanded she be sent home for some rich person affair. I don’t know those details, what I remember is getting the call that she had run and that I was supposed to help look for her. I refused and that’s when I ended up leaving Twilight. The last thing I heard about the Heartfilia heiress is that she made her way underground. One member was able to find her by dumb luck and that guy ended up in a shallow grave.”

“So we have no idea where she is or what she looks like,” Erza mutters. “There are no known photos of her or her mother. Jude Heartfilia isn’t even really photographed.”

“I can tell ya that she is blonde. Like the color of hay with big brown eyes,” Gajeel says. “The medical reports on her are sketchy at best, but if they are accurate, she should have scars on her back, wrists, and ankles from being chained up against a concrete wall. There is also a pretty nasty looking scar on her foot from when one of the underlings got real nasty with her, the fucker broke her foot and then shove a knife to make her scream. The real sketchy part is about a gunshot wound on her hip,” Natsu saw red. “Can’t confirm it but that’s what I know of a physical description.”

“Lisanna,” Natsu says with a calm fury.

“Y-yeah Natsu?” she stutters.

“Didn’t you take a selfie with all the girls about a week ago at the bar?”

“I did…”

“Show me the picture,” no one understood what he was driving at. Lisanna unlocked her phone and handed it to him. Natsu swiped through her photo gallery until he found what he was looking for. He enlarged the photo before walking over to Gajeel. “Look at this,” he shoves it into Gajeel’s hand.

“Son of a bitch!” that was all the confirmation Natsu needed. Without warning he turned and sprinted from the room. A loud ringing filled his head as he tore down the stairs and out the front door. He was so focused that he didn’t even wonder why the front door was wide open. Faint shouts followed him, but he couldn’t stop.

Natsu ran headlong into the side of her building and up the ivy. He didn’t check inside before he kicked open the window and jumped into the apartment. “No,” he breathes out. Natsu reaches under the bed, but the bag was gone. “No, no, no, no, no!” he ran around the whole apartment and all he could find were her keys and some money. Loud shouting and cursing came from the front door area as the rest of the guild seemed to figure out what Natsu already knew.

He felt sick as he sank down onto her bed. Erza, Gray, Mira, and Cana burst into the room with an irritated looking landlady behind them. “It’s too late…” he can’t even look at his friends.

“She’s gone.”


	13. It's Only Getting Colder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! A few quick things:  
> 1\. Thank you so much to everyone supporting this story, it means the world to me.  
> 2\. This chapter is a little slow paced and I apologize, but it is needed to set the next few things up.  
> 3\. I am starting my master's program TOMORROW!!! I am so excited but this also means that I won't be able to focus on this story as a top priority for a while. But I will definitely still be writing (aka procrastinating lol) and posting when I can
> 
> Enjoy xoxo

~~~~Gray; The Next Week

“Lisanna is distraught Gray-sama,” Juvia complains. They were lounging on their couch with the television on low in the background. “Bixlow-san called Juvia earlier. Juvia thinks that she and a couple of the other ladies are going to go over to Lisanna’s house tomorrow.”

Gray was absentmindedly running his fingers through her hair. “Mhm...have you seen Erza at all?” Juvia was quiet for a long time.

“No,” she says simply.

“Jellal has texted me you know,” he says softly. “He’s worried about her and you.” Juvia doesn’t respond, instead she turns over to straddle her boyfriend. “Juvia…” he knew that she was hurting from everything that happened last week. Everyone was in some variation of shock and anger. He also knew that she was deflecting by seducing him instead of talking about her feelings. But Gray was weak, especially when she kissed him like that. So, he lets her drown in her feelings for a little while longer and lets her pull him down with her. 

Later that night when Juvia finally fell asleep Gray gets up and heads out to the apartment. Just like he had been doing for the past week Gray scales the side of the building and jumps through the open window. Also like the past week he finds Natsu laying face down on her bed. Happy looked miserable and it didn’t help that all the lights were turned off. “Oi flame brain at some point you gotta shower. You’re stinking up her entire place,” Gray wacks the back of Natsu head before moving to turn on the lights.

“Li-Lucy paid until the end of August so you can use her shower at least,” the name still tripped him up.  _ ‘How did we never know?’ _

“Please don’t say her name,” Natsu’s voice was small and distant. Happy let out a discontented grunt. 

Gray runs his hand through his hair before pulling at it. “Natsu are you seriously just going to lie here wallowing in self pity? What even is this about man? I’ve never seen you look so...lost,” Gray says. “Who was Lucy to you?” he finally asks the question that everyone at the guild has been whispering.

Natsu says something, but it was muffled by the pillow he had his face buried in. Happy let’s out a high pitched scream before Gray could ask Natsu to talk like a fucking adult. “Fine you big baby. Since your dad is an ass apparently,” Gray goes into the kitchen and pulls out one of the cans of cat food that Lucy had bought. Once the cat was finally fed and content to curl up on the couch did Gray approach his friend again. “Natsu.”

The despondent man on the bed didn’t even twitch at the sound of his name. Gray growls in frustration before finally picking Natsu up by his scarf and throwing him on the ground. “What the fuck man?!” Natus roars.

“You need to get over yourself flame brain!” Gray roars back. “Lucy is out there  _ right now _ fighting! Fighting for a future she doesn’t believe in! You are supposed to be her friend--you…” Gray trails off, losing steam. “What happened, man?”

“She didn’t have to leave,” Natsu grounds out.

“Well if you would have been at the meeting five days ago you would have learned that Lucy came back after Mira sent her home,” Gray crosses his arms and doesn’t let his friend look away. “She came back for gods know what reason and saw Gajeel. Now if we believe the things he told us…” Gray grits his teeth. “Then it makes sense that she ran and she probably is thinking horrible things about all of us right now.”

Natsu swallows thickly and fists his hands in his lap. “I just…”

“What man? You just  _ what _ ? Do you even know how much chaos is happening at the guild right now? Lisanna is in a panic not only over Lucy, but you as well. Evergreen and Cana have  _ both  _ tried to leave to track her down. Juvia and Erza-” his voice broke over his girlfriends name. “They’re fighting Natsu, and Jellal and I are losing our minds.  _ No one _ is happy and with you here instead of trying to help regain a sense of balance it is only getting worse.”

“What do you want from me man?” Natsu shot up to his feet. “Do you-do you want to know that these past months all of the teasing and flirting that happened landed me knee deep in  _ feelings _ ?” he sneers. “That when she was finally,  _ finally  _ looking happy and-and looking at  _ me _ ,” his gut twisted as the world blurred. “Do you want to know about the kiss maybe?” the words hit Gray low. “About how I knew that she was lying, I did,” he admitted. “But I was too afraid of what that meant to tell Erza. If I had told her…” he bit off his words as one of those tears slid down his cheek.

Gray closes the distance between him and his friend before pulling him into a tight embrace. “So let’s fix this. Let’s find her and  _ bring her home _ ,” Gray says with conviction. “I can’t do that without you.”

Natsu grabs onto his friend for dear life as the tears continue to fall. He hasn’t let himself cry this entire time, just laid there in his own numb world. “Let’s bring her home.”

~~~~Lucy

It was as horrible and depressing as Lucy remembered it. The woods were unforgiving as she trudged through the underbrush. Her hunting skills were rusty and she has been cursing herself everyday for the lax life she led in Magnolia. She knew that she was getting closer to the border between Fiore and Bosco as the mountains grew in size. It didn’t mean that she was actually happy about it.

The air was colder now and all of her layers helped only marginally to keep it at bay. Even with two pairs of socks on Lucy could feel the cold seep into her toes. The cold and misery only served to remind her about a moment she’d rather forget, but it was hard to forget Natsu. Everything about him and that kiss was overwhelming. Just thinking about it was making Lucy heat up again. “Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid girl,” she mutters to herself. 

With night approaching fast Lucy had to find a place to rest soon. It was still too early in her travels to stop at a town; it was still too close to Magnolia as well. Lucy liked to believe herself to be a quick learner and she would not repeat the same mistakes that had almost cost her her life again. So, begrudgingly, she set out to find a cave now that the mountains were so near.

Like a blanket the night settled over the forest and its creatures as Lucy finally pulled herself into a small cave. The floor was damp, but at least it was big enough for both her and a fire. It took her longer than she liked to actually start the fire, but at least that skill wasn’t completely gone. The blanket that she grabbed as she fled was laid out along with most of the layers she wore that day. The fire would help dry out any sweat that accumulated and heat up the blanket for her. With nothing else to do Lucy found herself wandering back to Magnolia.

“Did they...were they really working with Jose this entire time?” her voice was a whisper, but it bounced around the cave. Seeing Gajeel standing in that room and not a single one of them tried to fight him meant something. The tears fell fast and hard as Lucy’s memories warred within her. The nights she spent locked away in that dungeon sick and dying and the nights she spent in that Magnolia apartment with Natsu only a foot away. She wasn’t blind, Lucy knew that she had gained back some weight while living there and that for a moment it felt like the world wasn’t out to get her.

But then Gajeel’s face was there again and the tears refused to stop falling. “They were going to turn me in,” she wails into the night. Lucy doesn’t even try to sleep as the night wears on. Before the sun has even broken on the horizon, Lucy is up and packed. She consults her compass once before heading out. It wouldn’t be many more weeks now before she was crossing the mountains.

During this time she tries hard to do nothing but focus on breathing and surviving. Her chest was tight, but that was all that she allowed for weakness. It was survival of the strongest out here and Lucy, once again, became a predator.

~~~~Natsu

“Natsu!” Lisanna sounded relieved. She threw herself at Natsu while crying about the mess they were in. Even though they were no longer together and Lisanna looked so happy with Bixlow, Natsu would never turn her away. She was still his friend after all.

“Natsu it’s good to see you,” Mira said from behind the bar. Apparently the old man shut down the bar for this past week. Non-guild members were not allowed in except for Jellal and Gajeel. When Natsu spotted Gajeel sitting at a table by the stage he couldn’t help the small amount of satisfaction he felt. The man was covered head to toe in bandages and bruises. It seemed no one was happy with his story. “Come and eat the master will be back soon,” Mira sets down a plate. 

“Oi Mira what is the plan huh?” Gray asks. “It’s been a week and I’m starting to think the counsel has something against us taking on this case.”

Mira looked down in dejection, “Ezra and the master are fighting very hard to get the counsel to see reason. But,” she bit her bottom lip. “Without Jude Heartfilia’s admittance to Lucy being gone they claim their hands are tied.” 

“What a load of crap!” Cana yells from the second floor. “I say to hell with the counsel and we form our own plan. Wendy and Natsu are our two greatest trackers! We build teams around them and go get our friend back!”

“Cana…” Mira tries to reason with her. 

“What does any of this mean if we are willing to let our friend go like that huh?” Cana shouts. “What’s the point of this guild?” her voice echoes around the room. 

“Cana that’s enough,” it was Laxus. Natsu watches as Cana takes a swing at Laxus and he lets her. Her fist connects with his gut over and over again as she sobs. “We will find her. Gramps should be back in an hour. Whatever the counsel says we will go out and bring her back,” Cana stops and looks up at him. “I know she is your friend--”

“She is probably thinking the worst of us right now,” Cana starts shaking. “You saw the video Laxus. All she saw was that vile piece of shit,” she hisses at Gajeel, “and us standing in the same room. She probably hates me!”

I felt Gray’s eyes on me as I finally move to sit at the bar. Juvia and Laki come in and take one look at Cana before moving to her. Gray leans against the bar next to me while Mira compulsively cleans the dishes behind the bar. The silence is unbearable, but no one speaks again until the master and Ezra finally return.

“Those lying, unhelpful pieces of shit!” the master roars as he throws open the door. “I would have all of them thrown in prison! I want them strung up on a wall and beaten!” Erza seemed to agree as she stormed in behind him. “I want Jude Heartfilia’s head!”

“What happened?” Laxus asks.

“It would seem that the counsel is under the impression we are trying to defame the Heartfilia name,” Erza says tightly. “So now not only are they not going to help in the search for Lucy, but I am on leave until further notice.”

“W-what?” Lisanna gasps. “Erza they  _ fired you _ ?” a low snarl is all the response we needed to understand.

“Since it seems like Erza is about to be out of a job I think it’s time we stop playing by their rules,” Natsu finally says. Everyone turns to look at him as he takes the shot Mira handed him and throws it back. “We’re goin’ to bring Lucy home ourselves,” at this everyone cheers.

~~~~A Few Hours Later; Erza

“Juvia…” Erza starts, but trails off. “I-I owe you an explanation.” When she doesn’t respond Ezra looks down at the ground. “I didn’t mean to lie to you about Geoffry. That raid we did of your former organization...I swear I thought someone had killed Geoffry.”

Juvia continued to stare out the window of the guild without speaking. Erza knew that this past week had to have been hard for her. “It wasn’t until I was back in the office doing paperwork that I saw him,” Erza’s fists clenched at her sides. “Laharl apparently captured him alive and brought him in for questioning. But he didn’t offer nearly as much as you did, I told them it was pointless to keep him.

“I begged the counsel to set a date for his trial, but they never...they never did,” Ezra wanted to tear down the walls for the vacant look on her friends face. “Then a gag order was placed on both me and Jellal. I  _ wanted  _ to tell you so badly.”

“But you didn’t.”

“N-no I did not.”

“Where is he now?”

“Jella is checking on his status as we speak. But if what Gajeel said is true...either Geoffry is out or he has someone on the inside working for him.” Both women stand in a tense silence inside the empty bar. Erza was at a complete loss as to what to do next, she hasn’t felt this hopeless in a long time. The taste was bitter on her tongue as she waited for Juvia to do something. 

“Gray-sama and Natsu-san will bring her home,” her voice wasn’t above a whisper. “And when Lucy-san is back home,” she turned to look at Erza, “we are going to destroy Twilight Ogre once and for all.” Juvia had a look of determination etched into her features as she held her hand out to Erza. “Together.”

“Together,” Erza managed to say without sobbing as she took Juvia’s hand in her own.

~~~~Natsu

“Natsu-san,” Wendy says as she returns from the train station. “It seems like Lucy-san bought a ticket to Clover. I ran into Maria-san who was coming home from visiting her family. She told me that she saw Lucy-san get onto the train,” the small woman looked puzzled.

“So we go to Clover,” Gray says.

“What’s wrong Wendy?” Cana asks from Lucy’s kitchen. Her apartment became a kind of HQ for the search. 

“It’s just...if Lucy-san’s story is true then it seems funny that she would use public transportation. It is also strange to think she is hiding out in a town, especially one as big as Clover. Not to mention our allies in Lamia Scale are there and they know the whole situation.” Everyone looks dejected at the logic of it. “I mean if what Gajeel-san is saying is true then Lucy-san has been on the run for a very long time. At least two years by my calculations,” Wendy concludes.

“So we gotta go back to the station,” Gray says. “See if someone else saw her. Who knows maybe she only pretended to get on the train for this very reason and got off before it even left the station.”

“If that’s true then she could have gone anywhere,” Cana sighs. “I mean Mira said she talked about Caelum, but that could have been a ruse, too.”

“This is so frustrating!” Elfman exclaims. “Was Lucy always this clever?”

“Yeah she was,” Natasu mumbles. Happy meows forlorning from his lap before curling up closer to Natsu’s stomach. “But that isn’t gonna stop us from trying to be as clever. Wendy, I think Gray is right and we need to go back. It’s just a hunch but...but I think she did leave from the train station.”

“How do ya figure Natsu?” Cana asks as she passes around bowls.

“In the videos she looked freaked out,” Natsu swallowed back his anger at those stills he saw of her. “Yeah she is smart and clever, but she was also very afraid. So I think she left the train station on foot.”

“Which way do you think she went?” Gray asks solemnly.  

“She told the old man and Mira that she traveled around a lot. My guess is she is gonna get out of Fiore as quickly as possible.”

“Wait you don’t mean…” Elfman’s face blanched. 

“Ah...Bosco,” Natsu’s voice was dark as the idea settled on them all.

“N-Natsu-san…” Wendy’s voice was trembling at the memories from two years ago resurface.

“Tsk,” Gray grounds out. “We gotta move,  _ now _ .”

~~~~October; Lucy

A full month has passed since Lucy started off on her journey. Magnolia was a distant thought that only haunted her nightmares now. She has stopped in only one town since she left and that was to buy a new hunting knife. She concocted a new plan to be as far away from Fiore as she could without having too much trouble coming back when she turned twenty-one.

“You wanna go to Midi?” the bartender exclaims to Lucy. “Listen stranger that is a pretty far trip. Also Minstrel isn’t like it used to be five years ago; bandits and rogues rule that kingdom.”

“Mhm,” Lucy mumbles as she sips on her water. “Thanks for the tip,” she stands up and throws her cloak hood back up before throwing a few jewels onto the counter. Her boat to take her across the strait between Bosco and Minstrel was going to leave in an hour, she didn’t want to miss it. Outside the bar, the rain was still falling in sheets with the wind turning it sideways. Lucy didn’t particularly care for rain as it always made moving through forests and backroads harder. 

“I should call him to tell him the plan,” she murmurs to herself as she passes a convenience store. Five minutes later Lucy is in and out with a new burner phone. She walks towards the docks and finds the boat that is supposed to take her across. The weather was causing huge waves to rock all the boats and Lucy was worried about her ride. “Excuse me,” she stops the nearest sailor. “Is the High Seas still going to be doing it’s crossing today?”

“Huh? Lady do you see the weather? No boats are coming in or going out,” the sailor scowls. “You’d better find and inn to stay at tonight.” Lucy scowls back at the man, but thanks him nonetheless. 

She finds a covered alley to hide out in before pulling out her old burner phone from her bag. She dialed the familiar number and waits for Leo to pick up. “Lucy,” his voice was breathless as he answered the call. “Lucy?” his voice was like a knife to the gut. “Lucy please,” his voice was so tired.

“I messed up again Leo,” she manages to say. Tears mix with the rain on her cheeks, “I messed up  _ again _ .”

“Lucy no, no you didn’t mess up,” Leo was always too kind to her. 

“They were working with my father and Jose!” she hisses into the receiver. “I saw--I saw him a-again,” she hiccuped. “Ga-Gajeel.”

His name was like a deadweight between them. “Where?” Leo growls.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she sighs as she slumps against the brick. “I left. I’m never going to see them again. I just--” she didn’t want to talk anymore. “I’m going to Midi.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“I’ll be there by the new year I think.”

“Lucy that place is brutal to people like you! You know what they did to their last king?” his voice was hysterical. “Not to mention Minstrel is full of thugs and Twilight Ogre has a few strong holds there! You barely made it out of Bosco I’m guessing,” his voice was accusatory.

“But I made it out!” Lucy argues.

“Ever since you asked me to look into Twilight Ogre, Lucy, it’s bad. They are everywhere. All the other dark guilds are falling to them! Next year after the New Year’s celebration all of the kingdoms of the peninsula are going to hold a conference.  _ All of them _ .” 

“Mhm…” she murmurs. “Well at least maybe now something will stop them.” They stay silent on the line. “I need to go.”

“Lucy please.”

She broke the phone in half again before moving to throw the pieces into the stormy waters.

~~~~Natsu

“Bastard!” Gray throws another Twilight minion off the mountain. After telling everyone at the guild the plan it was still a long shot that it’d work. They were going to storm all of the Twilight strongholds in the Bosco that they had information on and disrupt their business. A month later and it was like the organization was a virus. Every town, city, and hovel had Twilight’s presence. 

“Gray-san!” Wendy yells in warning before she lashes out at a man about to sever Gray’s head from his body.

“Nice Wendy! Thanks!” 

Cana throws the last man from this cell over the cliff with a war cry. “How many more of these cells are there?!” she yells in exasperation. “I hate this!”

“Cana-san let me wrap your arm,” Wendy offers. Cana grumbles and curses, but she let’s Wendy treat her.

“Natsu you okay?” Gray asks.

“I’m irritated.”

“Ah.”

“I’m gonna call Lisanna and ask for an update,” he says before storming away. Gray watches in silence as he friend goes to find his lost pack. 

A little while later around the fire Natsu tells his friends the update. “According to Lisanna, Laxus and his team have managed to take out a branch in Seven. Erza and Juvia are on the move towards Iceberg. Jellal had a new update,” Natsu pauses and looks at the fire.

“Well? What is it?” Elfman asks.

“It would seem the kingdom’s have finally come to realize there’s a problem with dark guilds. After the New Year... _ all fifteen countries _ are convening to form a plan.” His friends light up at the news.

“No way!” Cana laughs. “Does...does that mean she can come back after the New Year celebration?”

“Alright!” Elfman hollars. “This is great news! Now my sister’s can stop being so sad!”

“Natsu-san you don’t seem to happy about this,” Wendy says.

“Mhm, I am. It’s good news for all the citizens who have been terrorized by them,” he looks at Wendy and her face falls. “But...how is she supposed to know about it?”

“We are gonna find her Natsu,” Cana says. “We’ll tell her everything and convince her to come home.”

“Once we get her back we won’t let anything happen to her,” Gray agrees. “She’ll be safe with us back in Magnolia. Wendy has already agreed to share her story with Lucy.”

Wendy nods enthusiastically, “I’ll tell Lucy-san my truth and I hope it’ll be enough to convince her to come back with us.”

“In the meantime,” Cana stretches out by the fire, “we’ll head to Minstrel and keep kicking Twilight Ogre’s ass along the way. We got the bases covered Natsu so don’t--don’t look like we’ve already lost will ya?”

“We will get her back,” Gray says. “Mira is getting new tips and info all the time.”

“There is no other option, but to succeed,” Elfman agrees.

Wendy stands up and moves towards Natsu to wrap her arms around his neck, “you saved me once Natsu-san.” Natsu leans his head against hers, “you can do it again.”


	14. How Does One Move Forward, When Trapped In the Past?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely hope everyone knows how much I appreciate your kudos and comments. They mean so much to a creator like me. I am sorry for taking so long, I've been having a rough couple of weeks. But here is the next chapter! 
> 
> Please enjoy

~~~~November; Lucy

“Hey, hey, hey now,” the supposed leader of the bandits says. “Come on lady. Just hand over yer money and we will be on our way.” He says that, but the other three men snicker and laugh behind him.

Lucy bites her bottom lip as she contemplates what to do. She’s already taken out two of the men, but the smallest guy managed to stab her in the arm. She was almost to Midi, just another two or four weeks of travel and she could finally rest. However, the entire time she’s walked through Minstrel it has been one bad situation after another. First her ship sinks halfway into the strait causing her to either drown or cling to a chuck of wood. It took almost two days to float across due to fatigue.

After she finally made it to Minstrel it was like the storm was chasing her across the land. The thunder storm kept up with her from the coast until only five days ago when it finally dissipated. Of course she was given no breathing room because since the rain stopped all of the thugs and bandits emerged from whatever shithole they hid away in. Bedsides the mountains Minstrel was a bunch of flat open plains. With nowhere to hide Lucy has been fighting her way across for five days straight.

“Kiss my ass!” Lucy screams as she lashes out with her whip. The small man that stabbed her went flying across the field and slammed into a tree. The other two men rushed her and on instinct she drops and rolls while pulling out her baton. She slammed the baton into one man’s head while his knife misses her and guts the other guy. They both go down and Lucy stands on their heads. The hood of her cloak falls back and the leader looks at her in fear. “Tsk, you wanna die?”

“M-Monster!” he screams before rushing off into a field. 

“Ugh,” Lucy rolls her eyes before pulling up her sleeve to assess the damage. The knife wound didn’t hit anything vital, but it was going to scar. “Sure why not?” she hisses as she rips one of the bandits shirts and wraps it around her arm. She checks all of their pockets and takes their valuables before continuing on to Midi.

~~~~Natsu

“This is hell,” Natsu moans as the cart rocks back and forth.

“Quit bitchin’,” Gray barks as he continues to drive down the back road. “This is the quickest way across the plains according to that shop owner.”

“Just enjoy the ride Natsu!” Cana laughs as she chugs from a bottle she bought at said store.

“Real men don’t get motion sickness!” Elfman yells.

“Natsu-san I’m so sorry we ran out of the medicine!” Wendy cries. Natsu hangs over the side of the cart and tries his best to ignore his friends.

They have been chasing after rumors and following leads that could be related to Lucy. There were a couple of women in the last town that recalled seeing a young lady with a baton, but were unable to confirm a description or if she had a whip. Their words still struck a chord inside Natsu:

_ “Nay Jessica wouldn’t you say the girl seemed...scary?” _

_ “Mhm, yeah Nozomi I would agree,” Jessica says. “Even though no one could see her face. She just had this,” she gestures wildly with her hands, “aura around her that screamed ‘don’t fuck with me’. You know?” _

_ “Sorry we can’t be more helpful. But if you do find her can you tell her thank you?” _

_ “Huh? Why?” Gray asks. _

_ Both women look at each other and then down at the ground. It was Jessica that finally answered, “even though she seemed scary she um, well she saved our town. There was a dark guild that was terrorizing our town. We didn’t know how it happened, but that girl seemed pissed about it. She chased them out of town.” _

_ Natsu and his friends all look at each other in disbelief. ‘ _ Did Lucy disband a branch of Twilight Ogre? _ ’ _

“Let’s stop here for the night,” Gray decides as the cart rolls to a stop. Everyone, except Natsu, hops out and begins to set up camp for the night. The sun was just beginning to touch the mountains in the west. Minstrel was a strange country for sure, but at least they were finally feeling like progress was being made.

~~~~The Next Week; Natsu

“I’m getting sick of guys like you!” Natsu yells as he throws another robber across the clearing. The past week has been nothing but fighting and yelling. “Bastard!” he yells again as another rouge pops up on his right. 

“Natsu look out!” Elfman yells as one of the guys goes flying past screaming. Elfman and Wendy were holding the rear well enough, but Cana and Gray were starting to struggle as two of the robber’s knocked the wind out of them. Natsu lost count of how many heads he’s knocked together at this point. A pained yelp came from behind him, “Wendy!” Elfman screams before the sound of a gun goes off.

Everything seems to stop at that moment; Natsu punches one more assailant before turning around. Wendy was lying on the ground unconscious and Elfman had his pistol drawn with smoke coming out of the barrel. “Elf...man?” Cana says in shock. The man that was apparently shot had been thrown on his ass and was staring in horror at Elfman. Blood oozed out of his shoulder and panic swept through the group of robbers.

“Th-they’re crazy! Let’s get out of here!” one of them shouts before booking it across the field.

“Wait for us boss!” the lackey’s start to yelp and whimper as they turned tail and ran. The man that was shot continues to sit and stare at Elfman. Tears and snot are running down his face leaving trails. Natsu and Gray both go over to their friend to help calm him down.

“I got it,” Gray says as he takes the gun from Elfman’s hand. Out of the corner of his eye Natsu saw Cana pick up Wendy.

“She’s out cold, but unharmed,” Cana confirms. A muffled sigh escapes all three men before they turn back to the would-be robber.

“You from Twilight Ogre?” Gray growls at the man. A shiver of fear runs through his body as he nods his head in confirmation. “You mind tellin’ me why you’re attacking people?” A calm fury coated his words.

“We-we are j-just waiting!” the man stammers. It reminds Natsu of her in a way which in turn started to piss him off.

“Waiting for what?” Natsu snaps.

“We got orders to ransack Minstrel and to wait! I don’t know what for!” the man whimpers. 

“Huh?” Natsu and Gray say together. “Who gave you this order?”

“M-Mitchel!” 

The three men share a look and it’s Cana that snaps, “what about Jose? Geoffrey?” 

“I-I don’t know a Geoffrey b-b-but Jose is the guy calling the shots,” the man was a complete mess.

“What do you know about Lucy Heartfilia?” Cana asks.

“Heartfilia? Never heard that name before,” the guys move in closer with menacing looks. “I swear! I’ve never heard of the Heartfilia’s before!”

“What about a blonde girl with a baton and whip?” Natsu asks quietly.

“W-whip?” the man suddenly looks contemplative. “I don’t know about blonde but…” he paused to grab at his shoulder and cringe. Blood seeped between his fingers and Elfman moved to tower over him. “Almost two weeks ago I h-heard a rumor!” he squeaks. “Someone with no clear goal has been passing through the countryside.”

“And?” Elfman prompts.

“A couple of other members had a run-in with this person. The leader of that particular group was hellbent on seeking revenge. Apparently this person was a female who is toting around a whip and baton,” at this confirmation the fairies froze.

“You better start giving more details if ya wanna leave here alive,” Natsu growls.

The man looked like he would rather dig his own grave than continue talking to them. “All I know is that it was a girl with those two exact weapons and possibly blonde hair. One of them managed to stab her in the arm, but she took them all out.”

Gray picks the man up by the front of his shirt. “And where would we find these men?”

The man struggled and tried to get away, but Gray’s hold was firm. “T-The next town over! About a day’s journey from here!” he finally cries out. Gray throws the man and his head collides with a tree and he slumps down.

“We gotta move. It sounds like that tip Mira got was right,” Gray moves to help Cana load Wendy up into the cart before taking the reins again. Elfman sits down next to Wendy while Cana takes post at the rear of the cart. “It looks like Lucy is heading to Midi.”

~~~~Lucy

It was definitely cold now back in Magnolia. Snow was probably falling and Lucy was sure Lisanna was roping people into going to whatever festival the town held at this time of the year. Gray and Juvia should be celebrating their seven month anniversary if they were still together. Makarov and Mira probably bought bright and sparkly decorations for the bar and because Lucy knows that Laxus likes Mira he probably helped set it up. Lisanna and Juvia were probably creating a holiday set and Laki and Cana were probably wearing holiday inspired clothing--that of course showed off their perfect figures. 

Lucy kept running through all of the people she met back in Magnolia and what they were probably doing. Not once did she believe any of them were thinking about her. The lease on the apartment has expired and all of the things she left back there were probably sold off by the landlady. She tried so hard to think about other things, but the months that she has been running were catching up with her. She was exhausted and lonely. The only thing that had recently brought her some hope was Midi was much closer than she originally thought. Instead of being there at the end of December she should be getting there at the beginning instead. 

She has been fighting Twilight Ogre members this whole time. Every single town, road, and bar had an infestation of these brutes. By some stroke of luck, not a single one has seemed to recognize her. She didn’t stick around to ask them any questions in case that would be pushing the sliver of luck too far. Of course the downside is now she is an enemy of the Minstrel Twilight Ogre which has pushed her farther and farther off the road.

Which is how she found herself laying in an open field in the middle of the night on a flat rock. There were no towns or cities to pollute the night sky with their bright lights so Lucy could see everything. The stars twinkled and sparkled across the expansive darkness and once again Lucy found herself drifting back.

_ “Lucy,” her mother’s voice was always so soft. Too quiet in the big house, but always managed to make Lucy feel comforted. “Lucy do you see the sky?” _

_ She looks up at the night sky and smiles widely, “wow,” she whispers. “Momma what are stars?” _

_ Lucy’s mother chuckles lowly before patting her daughter on the head. It was some time before Layla remembered to speak, “they;re dreams Lucy.” _

_ “Huh?” the small child exclaims in confusion. “Dreams?” Lucy rests her head on her mother’s knee and stared up at her with wide eyes. _

_ “All those stars are the dreams of the people here,” Layla absentmindedly runs her fingers through Lucy’s hair. “Every new dream creates a star. Your dreams are up there too Lucy,” she smiles down sadly at her daughter. “What do you dream of?” _

Lucy had no more tears left inside her. She knew her soul was tainted and ruined, but still the thought of her mother made her heart ache with longing. Unable, or unwilling, to stop the flow of memories Lucy continued to stare blankly at the sky.

_ “That’s right you bitch!” the man screams as another one drives the knife deep into her thigh. “You better cry!” the sob tore its way out of Lucy as the pain blinded her. Her restraints prevented her from backing away as the man that was screaming slammed his fist into her jaw. It had to be broken. The other man pulled the knife out at the same time and it was all too much, her brain couldn’t process both the pain and the fear, so it shut down. _

_ They left, but Lucy was unsure of when. The dungeon was shrouded in  darkness with only the faintest of light coming from a slit in the wall. Lucy sat against the wall with her arms chained above her head staring at the blood, but not really seeing it. In the back of her mind she heard the door open and close softly and she wanted to thrash and scream and cry. Instead she continued to sit there slumped over staring blankly at the floor. _

_ “I...I’m so sorry,” it was a rough voice. Lucy didn’t even blink as a large figure crouched down and looked at her leg. “I’m so sorry Lucy,” the voice shook with what Lucy wasn’t sure. She merely continued to stare as the figure started to wipe the blood off of her leg, she couldn’t feel anything anymore. _

Still no tears, nothingness was all Lucy found inside her. Even the realization that Gajeel had tried to  _ help  _ her left her unmoved. He still brutalized her when his master told him to and he did leave bruises. Like the tide her mind continued to pull her back and Lucy was too tired to care.

_ “Come on girlie your friends are all dead,” the man sneers at Lucy. Even with a gaping hole in her hip Lucy stands up. Loe and Aries lay face down behind her as the man continues to circle. Aquarius was thankfully out on her own errand and was safe and she even took Scorpio and Gemini with her. “The masters are all anxious to see you back safe and sound.” _

_ At this Lucy lets out a dry laugh. She hasn’t been safe in her whole gods damned miserable life. The man lurks closer and closer and Lucy can only see one way out. In a moment that is both too quick and too slow she reaches for the discarded revolver by Leo’s foot and turns to shoot blindly at the man. A grunt and garbled sound is the last thing Lucy heard before the world is reduced to ringing. _

Her blackest mark against her soul replayed in her mind for a few minutes before it too was swept away in the tide of memories.

_ “Come on,” his voice is as bright as his smile, “so you don’t get lost again…” _

With a jolt Lucy sits up and tries to remember how to breathe. It wasn’t fair; her lower lip trembles. “That wasn’t fair,” her voice cracks and snags on the words.

_ “You don’t have to figure stuff out on your own anymore. You’re a part of Fairy Tail now and we look out for our own.” _

_ “What? You know you wanted a look,” the suggestive tone causes a heat to flood Lucy’s cheeks as she turns away. His laugh sounded like the wind through trees. _

_ A wicked, wicked grin that did funny things to her stomach spread across his face as a devilish glint entered his eyes, “wouldn’t this be like an indirect kiss?” _

_ “Water,” he was standing too close. Lucy could smell the aftershave wafting off of him and it was making her dizzy. He laughed at her frazzliment and she scowls and chases after him. _

_ “Lily,” he breathed out like it should have been the answer. But he was wrong and this was wrong. Lucy desperately wanted nothing more than him. _

_ “Tell me your name,” it was a nightmare. Nothing has felt more like a nightmare than Natsu looking at Lucy with such defeat and unhinged sadness. “For just  _ one moment _ I thought maybe you felt what I felt.” She did, she did and she wanted to scream. _

_ “One more lie? Nothing...you were nothing--we were nothing,” and then the world was so hot and Lucy was overwhelmed with grief. _

No tears fell as Lucy dry heaved over the side of the rock. Her hair was matted and sticking to her face and in the grand scheme of things it did not matter. When confronted with her loss and grief Lucy has found the world to be uncaring. So she coughed and gagged on her own insignificance as the world continued to move on.


	15. Friends and Allies?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll thank you so much for continuing to support me! I know I am not nearly as active as i was when this story started. I do apologize for that, but I have not given up on this story! Please enjoy the next chapter!

~~~~Right After Lucy Left; Erza

“If you run…” Erza warns, “I will kill you.” Jellal and Laxus both shift uncomfortably behind her as she stares down at Gajeel. Taking the hint from the scared men Gajeel nods. “We’ll keep in touch,” Erza turns to her guildmate and boyfriend. 

“Erza,” Jellal says her name softly before pulling her close. “Be careful. Geoffry is out there somewhere,” a flash of that old Jellal passed through his eyes. “You and Juvia are going to be heading into the heart of Twilight Ogre.” Erza only smiles sadly at the man she loved more than any other, she runs her hand down the side of his face. He leans into the touch with a sigh and he returns to looking like his true self. 

“Erza-san?” Juvia walked through the front doors.

“I love you,” Erza whispers to Jellal before pulling him into a kiss. She doesn’t give herself room to second guess everything. They pull apart and she walks over to her bags, “we will be in touch.” 

“Please be careful Erza,” Mira worries from behind the bar. 

“You as well.”

Juvia and Erza head out behind Laxus and the Thunder Tribe, they all had a mission to accomplish.

~~~~November; Erza

“Erza-san!” Juvia shout is the only warning Erza gets before another car tries to run them off the road. The terms ‘car’ and ‘road’ being used loosely here. Iceberg didn’t have roads, they have slick paths of ice that have been cut into the land that is also made out of ice. Snow was falling heavily for the third day in a row and Erza was contemplating about who in their right mind would live in this frozen hellscape. 

“Gods damned moron!” Erza yells at the Twilight Ogre goon who was attempting to ram his car into theirs. “Juvia take the wheel!” Juvia protests loudly against the idea as Erza kicks open her door and a blast of frozen air sweeps in. 

“Erza seriously!” Juvia squeals as the cold air blows her hair around and whips her in the face. It was too late, Erza jumped out of their vehicle and onto the Twilight one. The man driving the other car slammed on his breaks as Erza’s blade pierced the windshield. The crack spiderwebbed out until the whole thing exploded and shattered. The car veered off the road into a snowdrift; Erza was vaguely aware of Juvia’s screams as she flew over the drift and landed on a patch of ice.

Faintly Erza heard the vehicle screech to a halt and Juvia yelling at her. The world was fuzzy and something warm was running down her face. A pair of hands grab at her there isn’t anything she can do to stop it.

“Erza-san! Erza-san! _Erza_!” Juvia screams, trying to rouse her friend. A deep cut mares Erza’s forehead and circles down around her left eye. Juvia gives up on bringing Erza around and decided to carry her back to the car. The man from Twilight lay under his car unmoving, Juvia couldn’t find it in her to care. It took longer than she would be proud to admit to carry Erza back.

Once in the car Juvia wasted no time in speeding off. Mira managed to make a contact in Iceberg back during her black period. Juvia just hopes they remember and also have medical supplies.

~~~~Late October; Laxus

“This is becoming boring,” Bixlow complains. He leans against Freed and sighs dramatically.

“Get off of me!” Freed snaps. They have been in the wilds of Joya for half a month at this point. To Evergreen’s unending annoyance Twilight Ogre has been pervasive in every town. There has been no chance for them to stop and sleep properly let alone bathe. She stood back with Laxus watching their other two friends bicker. 

“What now?” she asks while picking at her nails. “We’ve almost closed all the branches here.”

“Dunno,” Laxus intones. He shrugs his shoulders before pulling out his phone. “Let me call Mira—”

“Oh?” Evergreen purrs, “need to get a fix from your girlfriend?”

“Laxus’ face turns bright red as he stutters, “w-what? Ever be serious!” the other two continued to bicker in the background. Laxus stomps away leaving a cackling Evergreen under the tree. He dialed the familiar number and waits.

“Laxus-kun?” her voice is soft and sweet like always. He heard a sharp edge under all that sweetness though, he knew that edge. The strain in her false bravado broke his heart. “Where are you?”

“Probably a two day walk from that monastery you told me about,” he leans against a different tree. He turns away from his friends to whisper softly, “I miss ya Mira.”

“Me too,” her agreement did funny things to his stomach. “But,” she hesitates and he hates it.

“I know Mira, I know,” Laxus runs a hand down his face. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure she comes home, I know you miss her.” He stands back up and turns to look at his friends. “What am I supposed to do when I get to this place again?” The others turn to look at him expectantly, sometimes it sucked to be a leader.

“Originally I was hoping you’d find the monk that taught Lucy— and I still am. However, I have new info,” Laxus straightened up at this. Mira’s information was almost never wrong especially after the mess from two years ago. “I’ve been told that there is a woman currently housed at this monastery that has ties to Lucy.”

“Ties how?” he asks cautiously. Lucy, it seemed, was in a world of trouble, he couldn’t be too careful with who he met because of her.

“Allied with her. Someone with a codename, I couldn’t get a real name out of the informant.”

“What does this informant of yours want in exchange for such sensitive information?” Laxus hisses between clenched teeth.

“Nothing. He claims to be an ally and friend of Lucy’s and wants her found unharmed.”

“How do we know this isn’t her father? Or Twilight Ogre?” Laxus was beginning to get angry.

“He can’t be,” she replies.

“How. Do. You. Know?” he spits out.

“Because I am looking right at him,” her tone was laced with a warning to back off. “And Gajeel confirms that he has nothing to do with either the Heartfilia line or Twilight.”

They were both silent for a heartbeat before Laxus let out the breath he was holding, “name?”

“Code name Aquarius.”

~~~~October at the same time; Mira

Mira sets her phone down on the bar next to the master. He was steadfastly refusing to look anywhere else besides his beer. “If you are lying to me,” Mira says quietly, “I will kill again.”

The people standing on the other side of her bar don’t even tense up at the threat. The timid looking one even managed to look her in the eye. “We want Lucy home more than you could possibly understand,” the leader of the group says. “She is our friend and if the rumor about the kingdom's coming together to fight Twilight Ogre is true she can finally come home.”

“It is very concerning I think,” Mira says ignoring him, “that you refuse to tell me your real names. I mean you are her friends after all,” she picked up a glass, but set it down again. The door to the kitchen swings open and Lisanna walks out with arms full of food.

“Mira-nee you’re going to scare Lucy’s friends if you keep making that face!” Lisanna says brightly. “Elfman-nee is with Natsu and they will find her, so don’t worry so much,” she smiles at her sister. “Please come and eat all of you,” Lisanna places the food down on the table and pulls out the chairs. She hopes no one notices how she is also falling apart.

~~~~December; Mira

“That’s great news!” Mira exclaims into her phone. The bar was opened back up and it was as lively as ever. Mira pressed the phone closer to her face to hear Juvia. “So Hattori-kun has a guild now?” She pours out a few beers while listening to her friend.

“Juvia has never seen so many beautiful buildings in one place!” she sighed dreamily. “Juvia wants to bring Gray-sama here someday.”

Mira laughs lightly while counting out change, “how is Erza doing by the way?”

“Better,” Juvia sounded tired. “Hattori-sama says that there is no internal bleeding or swelling of her brain. Juvia is worried though…” she trails off. “Juvia hasn’t told Gray-sama about Erza-san yet.”

“Oh Juvia,” Mira sympathized with the poor girl. She knew her little sister was falling apart because not only was their brother out on a dangerous mission but so is  Bixlow and Natsu. And Mira has been lying to Elfman to protect him and lessen Natsu’s anxiety, everything was a mess. If only Lucy wasn’t so damn good at running away and hiding this could be done and over with! “Once everyone is home safe and sound we’ll talk about all of it. Afterall,” she says darkly, “we have revenge to plan.”

“Mhm,” Juvia murmurs in agreement. “Hopefully Erza-san will be ready to move in a week. Our goal is to be home by Christmas. Hattori-sama and his guild are ready to mobilize. It’s a good thing you had that favor to call in Mira-san.”

Mira watched as Leo and Reedus ran the bar. The timid one— Aries— was singing on stage with Lisanna and the young twins— Gemini— were running around with Laki. “Be careful Juvia.”

“You as well,” then the line went dead.

~~~~December; Natsu

“I’m all fired up now!”

“Watch it flame brain!”

“Gray-san your arm!”

“Oi, oi, oi,  _ oi  _ knock it  _ off  _ you two!”

“ _ Manly _ !”

The team was becoming a little unhinged. They made it across Minstrel and crossed into Midi only two hours ago and somehow the entirely of the Twilight Ogre presence knew they were coming. The fighting has been non-stop and Natsu was annoyed. He was annoyed at the enemy in front of him, he was annoyed by the weather in this strange country, he was annoyed with his friends, and he was annoyed at himself for being annoyed with his friends.

“This way!” Elfman yells from the right. Natsu sends one of the bastards in front of him flying. He doesn’t hesitate in turning and grabbing the back of Gray’s shirt in the process. Cana had Wendy slung over her shoulder as she sprinted off after Elfman, too. They run down the crazy alleyways that make up the Midi city. They don’t stop until the enemy footfalls can no longer be heard behind them.

Gray bends over and tries to catch his breath, “that was insane,” he hisses. “I can’t believe we’re not dead.”

“Gray-san your arm…” Wendy says through trembling lips. Gray sustained a bullet wound in his right arm. He didn’t have time to pull Wendy out of the way so he just redirected the trajectory with his flesh. 

“It’s alright kid,” he smirks at her before wincing as she probes the wound softly. “Just another scar for the collection.”

“We need to find a doctor and lay low,” Cana says quietly from the alleyway entrance. She has become more and more paranoid throughout this whole mess. Elfman helped Wendy tend to Gray’s arm the best they could while Natsu started pulling at his hair in frustration. 

“I think it’s time we seriously consider sending you guys back to Magnolia.”

“ _ What _ ?” all four of them exclaim.

“Listen according to this informant Mira found Lucy won’t be leaving Midi for a while. Now that we have a general idea of what she is planning there is no point in having such a large team here.” Natsu looks at all of them with a flat stare, they were glaring at him. “Juvia should be home in two weeks Gray,” he says with venom. While he is happy that Gray finally manned up and asked Juvia out, he was bitterly jealous of their relationship. 

“Lisanna and Mira are probably out of their heads with worry,” he continues when Elfman looked like he was going to protest. “Besides Evergreen should be home now and I’m sure she has a  _ few  _ feelings on you being gone,” he didn’t beat around the bush. Elfman wisely closed his mouth. “Wendy...you don’t deserve to be out for over half the year. You’re school friends are probably worried and I know the master hates doing this to you,” Wendy starts crying. 

“Don’t you dare try to convince me to go home without her Natsu,” Cana warns. Tears shine brightly in her eyes. “We have worked too damn hard to get her back! She’s within reach now— I can’t just leave her.”

“You three should go home. Give our report to the old man and be with our family. I’m sure there is an airport in this gods-forsaken country.” Natsu stops pulling at his hair and instead opts to run his hand through it. “Cana and I can run the rest of this operation, even though I think she should go home, too,” he glares at her. Cana for her part only crosses her arms and sticks out her tongue. 

“Natsu that’s crazy. You see the numbers the enemy has on us. We can’t leave you alone,” Gray argues.

“What good are ya to me with a broken ass arm?” it was a low blow. Gray physically recoils from it and looks away from him. The tensions between everyone has been running on high ever since they managed to get a confirmation that it  _ was  _ Lucy they were chasing after in this hellscape part of the world. “We’ve managed to shut down a large number of Twilight Ogre’s footholds in Minstrel. There’s no need to do anymore work in Midi right now. So long as the countries really meant it this time next year Twilight Ogre should no longer be in operation. Go home Gray.”

“Natsu-san…”

“It’s okay Wendy,” he smiles tiredly at the small girl. “We’re going to bring her back. So go home and tell everyone everything we’ve learned about this part of the world.” 

“We gotta go now!” Cana yells before anyone else can protest Natsu’s decision. “Shit!” it was too late, the entrance to the alleyway was surrounded. They all draw their weapons and push Wendy behind them.

The whole group looked to be wearing cloaks and the smallest of them stood at the front. Natsu growls as whoever it was as they stepped closer to them, “what are you doing in this place?” it was a female voice. It sounded like it used to be soft, but something happened to hone it into a sharp edge. “What do you want in this place?”

“Just passin’ through,” Natsu drawls in that way he knows irritates people.

“Tsk,” the female says in irritation. “Midi isn’t really very kind to strangers.”

“Ya know I don’t think you Twilight bastards make up the majority of Midi,” Natsu counters. Something he said pulls the female up short, she makes a noise of confusion and disgust.

“We are  _ not  _ Twilight Ogre!” 

“W-What?” now it was Natsu’s turn to be confused. “Then what the fuck do you want with us?”

“Are you an enemy of Twilight Ogre?” she ignores his question.

“Have been for a while now,” he says in agitation. His friends behind him are becoming increasingly fidgety. It looks like the people behind the female feel the same way. 

“In that case,” the female steps forward and throws her hood off. “Any enemy of Twilight is a friend of mine!” 

“Huh?!” everyone exclaims at the same time. Natsu looks the small person up and down, she couldn’t be taller than 5’5’’ with a stock of hair so blue it reminded him of the ocean and ember eyes that have seen things.

“You guys look tired,” she takes an inventory of all of them. “Come back to our guild with us. I think there are things we need to talk about.”

“H-Hey are you sure about this?” someone from her group asks.

“Yeah how do we know they aren’t lying to us?” someone in the back shouts. 

“Hey now I didn’t get shot in the arm by a Twilight bastard for you to be accusing me of being one of them!” Gray snaps.

“You’re shot?!” the female yelps. “Let’s move out now! Everyone we are taking route B67 back to the guild hall. Phoenix formation and everyone stays off the streets! Move!”

“Yes ma’am!” they all obey the orders. 

“All of you try to keep up!” she smirks before the whole group ninja'd their way up the side of the buildings. Before any of them could protest what was happening several members of the unknown guild grab them and haul them up the walls as well.

Without any further instructions they break off into cells of three to four people and scatter. “Well...when in Midi,” Cana shrugs before breaking off into a dead sprint after one of the groups. 

“ _Manly_!” Elfman shouts before barreling off in another direction. All of the groups were starting to move out of eyesight.

“See ya on the other side I guess?” Gray says in confusion before taking off with Wendy. Natsu stood there looking after all of the dumbly.

“H-Hey! Wait for me! Damn slanty eyed bastard!”

Twenty minutes later and they all find themselves walking into, of all things, a bar. The place is lively and a pang of homesickness washed over Natsu and his friends. “Over here!” it was the female from before. “You guys must be starving! Come take a seat and I’ll be back!” she shouts over all the noise.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Natsu turns to see Gray surrounded by three women.

“You have a wound,” the tallest one says. Her hair was so black it looked like it could suck up all light.

“Our master instructed us to attend to your wound,” the one with eerily white eyes said. Her fingers were long and probing as she assessed the damage.

“You are also tracking blood onto our clean floor,” the smallest one quipped. All three of them grab him and drag him towards a set of stairs.

“Hey Aurora, Diana, Invidia lay off the new people!” someone shouts from the left. Others laugh in a way that tells Natsu there is no telling those three what to do. Wendy rushes off after them hysterically trying to explain what happened and be polite to these people they didn’t know.

“Oh? Did the triples already get ahold of your injured comrade?” the female asks. She came out from a door behind the bar with a tray full of food. Natsu didn’t realize how hungry he was until he saw all those plates. “I’ll have Jet take him and that little girl food.”

“Who are you callin’ a little girl?” Natsu says while looking her up and down.

She blushes intensely, “I’ll have you know that I am twenty-one years old!” 

“What?” Cana laughs. “Gimme a beer then!” 

“Oi don’t talk to the master that way!” a man down the bar growls.

“Master?” Elfman and Natsu say in confusion.

“Droy shut up,” the female rolled her eyes. “Yes I’m the master of this guild. The names Levy McGarden and it’s nice to meet you!”


	16. This is How You Move Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I am having A TERRIBLE OCTOBER :)))) so I decided to ignore some schoolwork and get this typed out! I love each and every single one of you who are sticking with me! I will be back again! xoxo

~~~~Lucy

Midi was exactly how that barmaid described it. A country run by a corrupt king and tormented by not only Twilight Ogre but by the Royal Knights as well. Lucy weaves her way through the crowded street looking for a food cart. It’s been months now since she’s had anything decent to eat. All that weight she had finally gained back in Magnolia was long gone. The cloak she has is in tatters and kept getting caught on everything. She was tempted to buy a new one.

A few shouts came from up ahead and Lucy ducked into an alleyway with a few street kids. Three Royal Knight came sauntering past, fresh blood was dripping from one of their blades. “Don’t look,” Lucy hisses as she covers the kids. “Don’t look,” she murmurs. The nightmares that plagued her delighted in sights like this one. The Knights were praising the man with the bloodied blade. She felt like she was going to be sick.

After the street returned to normal, Lucy and the kids ventured out. A block or two up by a light pole a large crowd gathered. Without trying to stop the kids, she knew she couldn’t even if she tried, they walked towards it. A man was weeping over the body of a woman. She couldn’t have been more than thirty. Flowers already crowned her head and Lucy found that even in death the lady looked serene. 

“Let’s lift her up, come on,” one man in the crowd said to the one weeping.

“She was pregnant!” he wails. Lucy’s heart stops cold in her chest. “Lily! Lily! My life!” he throws himself on the body.

Lucy couldn’t breathe, suddenly the lady had her face. Instead of one blade wound through the stomach, she was littered in them and two bullet holes in her temple…just in case. She wasn’t thinking straight. The man in the crowd managed to lift up the body. The weeping man kept screaming. “Lily! Lily! My gods— please, no! Lily!” 

Lucy steps back and bumps into someone. “Miss?” they ask. Lucy ignores them because for a second she thought she saw a fanged smile and pink. “Lily!” the weeping man was deranged, people were pulling him away at this point. He continued to yell and scream and curse the gods with that name.

_ “Lily,” he breathed. The terror and pain seemed to fade into the background. He was there and he was going to catch her. _

_ “So you don’t get lost again,” a genuine smile and an offered hand. _

“Natsu…” she hadn’t said his name in months. She hasn’t really thought about any of them or Magnolia since that night in the field. Lucy stumbles away from the mass of people. Suddenly the sun was too bright and the noise was deafening. All Lucy has ever wanted was to feel safe and know peace. She has come so close in Magnolia, but as long as her father and Twilight Ogre were after her she could never go back.

As soon as she was clear of the crowds Lucy broke into a sprint. It didn’t matter to her that her feet were sore or that she hadn’t eaten in almost a week. The memories were trying to drown her again and Lucy just couldn’t swim anymore. The sun was beginning to make its descent into the night as Lucy finally stopped running.

“Girl you look like a ghost is afta ya,” Lucy was startled by the booming voice. “Whatcha runnin’ from mhm?”

“Wh-what?” she stutters. A very large man holding a child on their shoulder steps out of a doorway. It was then Lucy realized she had run straight into the slums of whatever Midi city she was in. “I...I’m sorry. I have to go,” her voice was tight.

“Oi, now don’t be dat way lil’ miss. My daughter here,” he shrugs the shoulder where a tiny girl was perched. “She said you were da one to help her hide from them, bastard Knights.”

“Huh?”

“Mhm, any friend of my daughter is a friend of mine. Ma!” he yells back into the house. A muffled response was followed by heavy footfalls. “Come on, let's get cha fatten up. Oh, child you too skinny.” The little girl jumps down to stand in front of Lucy. She reaches out to wrap her hand around Lucy’s fingers. 

“I r-really don’t w-want to put you out-out,” Lucy felt helpless against the girl's grip. In all honesty, this little girl probably weighed more than Lucy right now.

“It ain’t no problem at all suga,” a sweet voice said from inside the house. “Afta what you did for my little baby girl, a home-cooked meal is the least I can do.” Lucy blinked as the lights from the house blinded her. When her eyes adjusted she almost couldn’t believe what she saw. “It ain’t much, but it’s home. Names Holly,” a tall, willowy woman says from the kitchen. “My little girl is Kiara and that big boulder is my husband Rolondo. Welcome to our home.” Holly smiles brightly at Lucy and it was genuine and kind. 

“H-hello,” she stutters in response. 

“Go on take a seat. Dinner will be ready soon,” Holly moves around her kitchen effortlessly. Rolondo smiles warmly at her before putting on a pair of reading glasses and sits down with the paper. Kiara looks up at Lucy.

“Wanna see my room?”

“Um...oh sure?” Lucy says. Kiara takes her fingers again and walks towards the hall. The carpet was soft under Lucy’s sore feet and while the paint was worn it was still an inviting green. Everywhere she looked there were memories; walls covered in photos, every surface screamed happy family. The bookshelves were packed with novels and children’s books. Somewhere in the house was a cat, Lucy noticed an overturned basket filled with cat toys. ‘Happy…’ her mind wandered.

“Here,” they stop in front of a door painted orange and pink. Kiara pushed it open and dragged Lucy inside. “Wanna meet my kitty?” Kirar doesn’t wait for an answer as she rushed over to her bed. Toys, clothes, and colorful babbles lay scattered everywhere. “This is Mr. Sunshine,” she holds up a black cat with deep green eyes. “He’s shy.”

“H-Hi Mr. Sunshine,” Lucy waves to the cat. He only stares back at her unblinking, unnerving.

“Let’s play house!” Kiara drops the cat and runs over to her kitchen set.

Before Lucy could protest or even figure out what was happening, she was sitting at a little table pretending to drink tea. For half an hour they pretended to be sisters living in an apartment together. As Kiara was trying on different tiara’s she says, “my older sister used to play with me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah but then the King made her go away.”

“O-Oh?”

“Mamma and pa say she went to school,” Kiara twirls in her mirror. “But Mikki always told me the truth.” She turned to look at Lucy, “she kinda looked like you. With that sadness in her eyes.”

“Kiara! Time for dinner!” Holly calls down the hall. Kiara simply looked Lucy up and down before heading to the door. She walked out into the hall without another word.

~~~~Natsu

“How is he?” Natsu asks the creepy triplets.

“Fine,” the boney one intones. “A few days rest to ward off his infection and he shall live.”

“Natsu-san,” Wendy stood at the door. Elfman waited behind her with both of their bags. 

“Ready to go, huh?” Natsu asks softly. He looks down at Gray for a moment longer before leaving the sickbay. “Let’s find Levy so we can get you on your way!” Wendy smiles sadly at him but wisely follows his orders. Elfman is still mad at Natsu so he opts to say nothing. ‘Good,’ Natsu thinks as they walk down the hall.

Levy is behind the bar with some Midi-born woman. Her name always escapes Natsu’s memory. “Natsu!” Levy calls out. “Droy has the bar all ready to go. Your master is still fine with Droy staying at your guild?”

“Yeah the old man is looking forward to this new partnership. Wendy and Elfman will help Droy learn all about Fairy Tail.”

“Great! Elfman-san, Wendy-chan,” Levy pointed to the back door. “It was nice meeting you! I hope to see you again!”

“Thank you again Levy-san for all of your help,” Wendy bows politely to the master. The whole bar said goodbye to their new friends as they walked out the door. Natsu sat at the bar and felt a headache forming at the base of his skull. Once Gray was recovered enough he will also be going home.

_ “What do you mean injured?!” Natsu heard Juvia scream in the background.  _

_ “Juvia calm down…” Mira cooed as she moved the phone around. A slight scuffle can be heard, “sorry Natsu, what’s your plan again?” _

_ “Elfman, Gray, and Wendy are coming home. I’m not gonna keep draggin’ then around. I would be sending Cana home—”  _

_ “Fat chance buddy!” Cana crowed from the bar.  _

_ “But she is refusing to leave,” Natsu grits out. “Gray got a bullet to the arm and has a slight infection from all of the temperature changes we went through.”  _

_ “Oh well...alright if you think that’s best. What’s the name of this guild again?” _

_ “The Crown.” _

Natsu watched as Lecy and a few others ran around the bar. It almost felt like home, but it wasn’t and that only served to make his headache worse.

“Natsu-san?” he turned his head to glance at Levy. Her eyes were unnervingly good at looking through a person. “Can you tell me about her?” She sat down next to him.

“Levy,” he sighed, tired and feeling defeated.

“Please,” she begged, “please Natsu-san.” Her eyes become misty.

_ “So what brings you to Midi?” Levy asked while wiping down the bar. “It can’t be for the view.” _

_ “We’re lookin’ for someone,” Natasu admitted. Gray was practically leaning all his weight onto Natsu’s shoulder. Before he could move Gray to a seat he was whisked away by the triplets.  _

_ “Who ya lookin’ for?” some woman behind the bar drawls. Wendy ran after Gray and the triplets.  _

_ “No offense, but we don’t know ya like that,” Cana and Elfman close ranks behind Natsu. A few in the crowd look very offended. _

_ “Now, now,” Levy said. “No need for that. Let’s get your friend taken care of and some food in ya!” She smiles brightly at them, it reminded Natsu of her. The three fairies sit down at the bar and Cana immediately asks for a beer. Elfman asked for the same before turning to talk to someone next to him. “Want anything?” Levy asked. _

_ “Nah,” Natsu drawls. “So, what’s goin’ on in this country? Why’s Twilight Ogre here?” _

_ Levy taps her chin, “tell ya what...I’ll tell you everything we know about Twilight Ogre if,” she wiggled her eyebrows at him, “you tell me why you’re here.” Natsu scowled at her and huffed. _

_ “Lookin’ for a guildmate of ours,” Cana says next to him. Levy looks over at her, “she’s...she’s havin’ a hard go of it right now.” _

_ “Why’d she come to Midi?” Levy asked confused. _

_ Cana shrugs and Elfman asked for another beer. “Dunno, she just ran because of some...misunderstandings. But she’s in trouble and we can’t just leave our friend out in the cold.” Natsu slumped forward to rest his forehead on the bar. Cana finished her beer, “I guess I wouldn’t mind your help in looking for her. Midi is a small country, but still,” she finally looked at Levy. “Her name is Lucy Heartfilia—” _

_ “What?!” half the bar and Levy screamed at them. Natsu fell off his stool, Elfman choked on his beer, and Cana threw her empty mug in surprise. _

_ “Lucy Heartfilia is in Midi?” Levy asked in shock. _

Turns out The Crown is full of heirs and heiresses to some of the richest families on the peninsula. There were a few run-away nobles and a lot of former staff for these families. Levy McGarden is the heiress to a family fortune that is on par with the Heartfilia fortune, according to Mira’s source. And of course Lecy knew Lucy when they were younger; they’d been best friends.

Now Natsu was sitting here with this person who knew so much about the woman he loved and was speechless. “Only if you tell me about her, too.”

“Deal!” she squealed in delight.

“When Lucy came to Magnolia she didn’t know her. She just happened to be walking by during one of the many fights that happen at Fairy Tail,” he refused to tell her it was him and Gray fighting. “Nothing major until after the fight was broken up. A Twilight bastard tried to take off with personnel files.”

“Oh no!”

“Yeah, Mirajane tried to stop them but…she isn’t really able to fight anymore,” that was another story. “Lucy heard the shout, turned to find that guy runnin’ right at her and she didn’t even hesitate to take the guy out,” Levy watched as Natsu’s whole demeanor softened. “She took out two of them in one day actually.”

“She sounds amazing,” Levy prompted.

“Yeah, she’s the best,” he smiled fondly. 

“Well the Lucy I knew was a giant crybaby,” Levy teased. Natsu narrows his eyes at her. “Back before all the bad things…” her voice quiets down. Levy fidgets in her seat and looked at her lap. “She loved to go stargazing the most. I remember her sixth birthday party was during a meteor shower. My maid and I traveled on an overnight flight to spend all day with her.” Levy’s voice cracked a little as she closed her eyes.

“She was such a kind person. Never asked for gifts, she just wanted her friends to be with her. Her sixth birthday was like a dream. Tents of gauzy silk covered the lawn and all the food was inspired by different celestial bodies. But nothing compared to Lucy and her mother.

“Otherworldly is the only way to describe Layla Heartfilia. Of course Lucy had to dress like her mother,” Levy chuckled. Natsu can only hope to have memories like this with Lucy. “She cried as the meteors fell and cried again when it was over,” Levy laughed now. She looked at Natsu and tears shimmered in her eyes. There was more to say, both of them knew that. 

“Let’s find her together,” Natsu offered.

“Yeah,” she agreed without letting a single tear fall.

~~~1 Week Later; Lucy

Lucy ends up spending more time with Kiara and her family than she initially thought. Holly offered Lucy their other daughter’s old room and Kiara begged her to stay. So here she was a week later standing in the kitchen with Holly cooking dinner. “Can I ask ya somethin’?” Rolondo shouts from the porch.

“S-Sure?” Lucy said, not sure at all.

“What do ya make of this?” he walked into the kitchen and held up the evening newspaper. The big headline read  _ ‘First Time In History All 15 Countries to Convene’ _ and Lucy was confused. 

“The Nobles are holding a meeting? About what?”

“Those damn Twilight scum that have been plaguing us all of course!” Rolondo booms. “In one month all those hotshot strategists are gonna figure out a way to shut those animals down for good.”

“Oh,” Lucy breathed out. She saw stars and had to sit down at the table. “Can...Can they really do it?”

“Whaddya think?”

“I don’t...I don’t know,” Lucy whispered. Rolondo and Holly share a look. 

“Listen suga, I know we haven’t asked ya a lot of questions…” Holly trailed off. Lucy looked up at her, “but are you okay?” That wasn’t the question she was expecting and she was promptly burst into tears. Rolondo and Holly both freak out and shuffle around her unsure of what to do.

“If-If they c-can stop Twilight O-Ogre I can go h-home!” Lucy wailed. The thought of it alone caused her to cry harder. “I w-want to go home!” 

In a moment of clarity, Holly wrapped her arms around Lucy. The contact reminded Lucy of a moment stolen in a dry storage room. She grabbed at Holly and held on for dear life. 

“We got another daughter,” Holly murmurs. “Who also can’t come home right now.” Lucy quiets down at the words. “We told Kiara that her big sis’ went to college but…” Lucy remembered that conversation with Kiara. “Mikki had a nasty boyfriend that joined that awful group. When he tried to convert her, Mikki dug her heels in. Her refusal brought the whole organization down on us.”

Lucy stared wide-eyed at them, “w-what happened?”

“She ran and we moved here,” Rolondo answered. “What are ya gonna do now?”

Lucy and Holly still hung onto one another. “I’m going home,” and for once Lucy did not stutter, stumble, or hesitate. Her mind drifted back to where her heart has been this whole time. She finally felt herself relax. “But I think you deserve to hear my story.”


	17. The Plan is Simple...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Peeks out from under the mountain of research I have* Oh...hi...so sorry? But here is a new chapter! I apologize profusely for being so well absent. I hope you accept this as a peace offering!
> 
> Also SUPER unedited because...well I barely have time to edit my stuff that gets graded so yeah.
> 
> But I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!! xoxox

~~~~Natsu

“What are we doing here?” Natsu roared as he threw a Knight across the street. Somehow he found himself in a turf war with the kingdom of Midi. Cana was howling in rage as she smashed another person in the face. With some pride, Natsu noticed the people from The Crown were also looking at her with fear. Levy and some guy named Jet were holding their own while Natsu continued to charge forward. Levy had effectively given Natsu free reign to do whatever he wanted with her people. His best idea was to send out search parties, of course, the only pictures of Lucy they have is the old one from Lisanna and a really old one from Levy.

Somehow the Knights or Twilight Ogre learned about Lucy’s whereabouts and were out to stop her rescue, Natsu had other plans. “Natsu!” Cana shouted at him. Natsu is able to dodge a sword through the back and knock the guy out.

“Thank Cana!” 

The fight raged on for so long Natsu was starting to slow. He was kind of pissed that Gray went home yesterday. “Natsu-san! Cana-san!” Levy called from far to their left. “This way!”

Once again Cana grabs the back of Natsu’s shirt and hauls him away. Without warning, Cana throws him down into the sewer, “oh, what the fuck?!!”

“Come on!” Jet is already climbing out of the water. Cana splashes down and swims for the side. “We’ll split up ahead and regroup at our spot in two hours.”

“Keep your eyes peeled for Lucy,” Natsu reminded them.

“We will,” Levy confirms before taking off. Cana and Natsu follow behind until the first fork takes them their separate ways.

~~~~Lucy

“You really don’t have to do this,” Lucy protests for the tenth time. It fell on deaf ears as Holly and Rolondo continued to make phone calls. Kiara was home from school and was sitting on the couch eating crackers and cuddling with Mr. Sunshine. Lucy stood in the kitchen exasperated at the others.

“Mimi listen I know you gotta get back,” Holly said. “Don’t forget to tell ‘em all hi for me. Thanks again!” Holly hangs up her phone.

“Rich you old son of a gun I owe ya two beers!” Rolondo’s eyes were twinkling in the kitchen light. Once he hung up the phone he laughed.

“What cha get suga?” Holly asked.

“News,” he grinned at them.

“Daddy!” Kiara whined from the couch.

“Alright, alright,” he gestured for them to sit down. “My friend Rich is workin’ for the government, but I know for a fact that he is a spy,” he whispered the last word. “Anyways the news is about a couple of things. First the bad news.” Lucy didn’t know if she could handle any more bad news. “The word on the street is that Twilight Ogre has its grip on the crown. There is a rumor that the King is being controlled by Twilight Ogre for some reason and that’s why the Knights have been getting worse.”

Holly gasped, “that Knights are actually members from that awful guild?” Her husband nods his head sadly; Lucy felt sick. “But Mikki—” Holly cuts herself off, Kiara was quietly staring off into space.

Lucy puts her hand on Holly’s arm, “it’s okay, she knows everything.”

“Smart kid,” Holly says without any venom. “What’s the good news suga?”

At this Rolondo smiled a mischievous grin at Lucy, “apparently someone has been causing a lot of trouble all over Midi this past week.” All three stare at one another until a small voice pipes up.

“Lucy-nee-chan is your boyfriend coming over?” She said it so innocently, but Lucy knew this little girl and knew that she was smart enough to understand what it was that she was asking. A blush rushed across Lucy’s face and neck at the words. Rolondo laughed so loudly someone outside told him to shut up. Holly held onto Lucy’s hand and tears shone in her eyes. 

“W-What now?”

“I think the best course of action is to wait for Natsu-san to come to us. You’re in pretty high demand, so we shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks—” Holly was cut off by the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut. The cat hissed and Kiara started to cry. Lucy, Holly, and Rolondo were in the living room quickly. Lucy had unclipped both of her weapons and was ready to fight.

On the floor by the front door, Kiara was frantically hovering over a girl about Lucy’s age. Her hair was a mousy brown and matted to her face by blood. One eye was closed tight and the other was starting to glaze over. Lucy could only stare at the blood oozing between the girl’s fingers. Some kind of wound marred her left side. 

“Mikki-nee!”

That snapped Lucy back into reality. Holly and Rolondo were already working on staunching the flow of blood. Kiara was screaming and crying while hugging her cat to her chest. “We have to cauterize the wound, Holly!” 

“Kiara— sweetie please!”

“...ucy…” everyone stopped talking. Holly continued to press down on the wound. “L...Lu-cy,” Mikki said weakly. Every fiber in Lucy’s body went taut.

“I’m getting something to cauterize this!” Rolondo was up and across the room quicker than Lucy thought he was capable of moving.

“L-Lucy…”

“Suga d-don’t talk okay?” Holly had tears running down her face. Mikki ignored her mother and turned her glazed eye towards Lucy.

“I f...found ya,” she smiled a pained smile at Lucy. It looked so much like her father’s smile.

“Lucy-chan take Kiara,” Rolondo commanded as he came back into the room. He had a knife in his hand and it was bright red. Lucy knew what was about to happen, so she grabbed a protesting Kiara and ran. With no other place to go, Lucy went into Kiara’s room and slammed the door. Muffled screams could be heard, they must have given her something to bite.

Mr. Sunshine ran and hid under the bed while Lucy held onto Kiara. The poor girl was shaking like a leaf as tears left trails down her face.

Mikki slept for a whole day. Kiara never left her bedside. Holly and Rolondo took shifts in changing her bandages and checking her vitals. “I forgot you both are doctors,” Lucy sighed the next part, “being in hiding sucks.”

“I concur,” Rolondo says while reading the paper. “It is nice havin’ my little girl back.” Lucy smiled at him while she continued to cook. Holly didn’t need to worry about her daughter and the house, plus Lucy liked helping out.

“Lucy-chan,” Holly called from the hall. “Mikki is awake and needs to tell ya something.” Rolondo puts his paper down and followed Lucy down the hall. The door was open and they could see Kiara sitting on the bed cuddled under her sister’s arm.

“Lucy-san,” Mikki said.

“Mikki-san I’m g-glad to see you’re alright.”

“Mhm,” she stared at Lucy for a while. “I can see why he’s willing to tear down the heaven’s for ya.”

“W...What?”

Mikki laughed, and it is a full-bodied sound that filled the room. “That pink-haired man of yours and that wild drunkard of a friend. They are hellbent or heaven-sent on lookin’ for ya.”

“Na…” she found it hard to say his name. “Cana is here?”

“Brought a whole team with ‘em. Some guy that has a problem with clothes.”

“Gray,” Lucy breathed out.

“A great big hulk of a man. Very intimidating with that stock of white hair and scar runnin’ down his face.”

“Elf-Elfman?”

“That little girl with blue hair managed to impress the Three Sister and that ain’t nothin’ to sniff at.”

“Blue hair…?” Lucy thought back, but couldn’t remember a little blue-haired girl.

“Wendy something or other,” Mikki said.

“Oh, I never met her.”

“Mhm, well they want ya back somethin’ fierce,” Mikki hugged her little sister closer to her. “I know a lil’ somethin’ about wanting people back.” Lucy looked for a moment before turning to Rolondo.

“I have to go.”

“What?”

“Lucy-chan that’s a little rash.”

“Girl you can’t go out there!” Mikki sits up and cringed. “Look what those bastards did to me! My team is scattered right now, but we’ll be meeting up tomorrow night.”

“You can’t move in your condition Mikki,” Holly scolded.

“Ma, I gotta go. One if they find me here then all of this was for nothing. Two I gotta get Lucy back to her friends. I promised my master—”

“Wait...what do you mean master?” Lucy interrupted.

“Of my guild, oh yeah…” she trails off looking sheepish, “you know here, too.”

“What?” she scoffs. “I’ve never been to Midi before.”

“Well, my master ain’t originally for here either. But her family did move here a while ago.”

“Who is it?”

“Levy McGarden,” and the world tilted under Lucy’s feet once again.

~~~~Mira

“The snow looks pretty!” Asuka-chan giggled. She is riding on Laxus’ shoulder and trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. Mira smiled up at the child, but it falls as soon as she looks away. Laxus wraps his arm across her shoulders and pulled her close. 

It’s been almost a full week since  _ almost  _ everyone has come home. Natsu and Cana send short texts when they can, but it was nothing that settled her nerves. The Midi government might be compromised and currently, Lucy’s friends were working on uncovering how deep it all goes. Gray was fully healed up and was helping Juvia act as the go-between Fairy Tail and Hatori-kun’s guild. Erza and Jellal are still utilizing their government resources to track down the top players in Twilight Ogre. Everyone was busy, but at least they were home.

Christmas was in two days. The guildhall was decked out and there were presents under the tree. Master was so stressed out that he stopped drinking which scared Mira. “You’re going to give yourself a headache,” Laxus stated.

“I’m worried Laxus-kun.”  “We all are, don’t take it all on yourself.”

                “I hope Natsu-nii and Cana-nee come home!” Asuka-chan said. Laxus shuffled her around so she was in his arms.

                “Don’t worry they’ll be back before ya know it,” he smiled at the girl.

~~~~Natsu

                “Thank you,” Levy said before hanging up the phone. “Mikki got shot.”

                “Damn,” Jet swore.

                “When?” Cana asked.

                “Yesterday,” Levy bit her lip. “They got separated and now she isn’t picking up her phone.”

                Natsu punched a wall, “you guys shouldn’t have to be in harm’s way because of us.”

                “Tsk, we’re tougher than we look,” Jet argued. A few other members murmur their agreement. “Besides you sent Mikki’s team to her hometown, she’s probably layin’ low somewhere off the grid.” They all become quiet as the reality of the situation starts to sink in. “Lucy’s in some tough shit, huh?”

                “Natsu-san Mikki’s group is going to be meeting up tonight. Hopefully, Mikki makes it to the meeting spot,” Levy offered, ignoring Jet.

                Before Natsu could respond the scout came running up to the group yelling, “bad news!”

                “What now?” Cana growled.

                “Twilight is making a move! I got into contact with your friend Mirajane-san and she was informed that they were planning on storming the castle of Fiore!” Cana spits out a string of curses and Natsu actually put a hole in the wall. “There is a bright spot in this though,” the scout went on. “Mirajane-san and Fairy Tail have been amassing an army apparently.”

                At this Natsu and Cana burst out laughing. “What…what’s so funny?” Levy asked.

                Natsu wipes a tear from his eye, “if that’s the case then Twilight Ogre is no longer going to be a problem.” The others in the group went ridged.

                “W-Why?” Jet asked cautiously.

                “Because,” Cana says with a wicked grin, “Fairy Tail ends wars.”

~~~~Lucy; That Night

                “You warm enough?” Holly asked again as she shuffled between Mikki and Lucy.

                “Ma we are gonna be late,” Mikki whined. Her mother messes with the hood of her cloak again and makes a disapproving sound. “We gotta go.”

                “I know that,” Holly’s voice is thick with emotion. She checks Lucy’s bag one more time.

                “I’ll come back and visit. Introduce you to my…my friends,” Lucy said. Holly makes a few more adjustments, a couple more disgruntled noises, but finally lets them go. Rolondo was waiting outside in a car he borrowed from his friend/spy Richard. He was going to drive in circles to confuse anyone dumb enough to follow them.

                “Love ya,” Mikki called over her shoulder before getting into the car. Lucy followed suit and slid into the car on the other side.

                “Been a while since I’ve been in one of these,” Lucy said offhandedly.

                “Mhm, it is a luxury in our lifestyle.”

                “Ready girls?”

                “Let’s hit it pa,” Mikki grinned at him in the rearview mirror. Rolondo starts to drive, but Lucy didn’t really know where they were going. Mikki explained that her guild—The Crown—meets underground. The nightmares of being underground terrified Lucy, but for the first time she wasn’t going to run away. Someone has been waiting for her and he’s been waiting for a long time now. Lucy was tired of running anyways. “At the next corner we gotta jump out okay?” Mikki interrupted her thoughts.

                “Mhm…” Lucy replied uneasily.

                “If I can do it,” Mikki gestured to her wound, “so can you. Like rollin’ down a hill.”

                “But onto cement.”

                “Exactly!” Lucy huffed out a bitter laugh, but she knew worse things have happened to her.

                “Be safe girls,” Rolondo said as he slowed down as much as he could without looking suspicious.

                “Roger,” they say in unison before rolling out of the car onto opposite sides of the street. Rolondo continued to drive as the girls ducked into alleyways. Lucy couldn’t even see Mikki on the other side, but she knew she was there. Now she just had to follow the plan and find the nearest manhole cover and jump down into the sewer. She’s been in worse places she tried to remind herself as she pulled the cover up.

                Plugging her nose and mouth, Lucy begins her descent into the darkness. The smell is overwhelming and Lucy couldn’t believe her oldest friend actively chose to be down here. “Levy-chan you’re crazy,” she muttered to herself. It still shook her to the core to realize that Levy was alive—most days she couldn’t believe she was alive either. She wasn’t the only one who got away from Twilight Ogre. One of Lucy’s worst and most reoccurring nightmare was always about the ways Jose and his minions hurt her friend. According to all of her tormentors, Levy should be long dead, but now she’s wondering if they told Levy the same thing about her.

                A small chirping sound echoed down a tunnel to the right. Lucy chirped in response; in the darkness, a small light appeared. Lucy started to walk quickly towards it. “There she is!” Mikki whispered excitedly.

                “Lucy!” someone else called out. Someone familiar for some reason.

                “I thought you were dead,” another voice echoed down the tunnel, they sounded both happy and sad to Lucy. Soon enough she made it to the group and could see everyone’s face, with a gasp she realized why they sounded familiar.

                “Angel? Erik?” Lucy said in shock. She was absolutely floored, of all the people in the world that it could have been it was the son and adopted daughter of her father’s largest rival. “W-W…what are you doing here?”

                “We’ve come to find you of course!” Angel said with a giggle.

                “Waddya mean what are we doin’ here?” Erik smirked at her. “That pink-haired boyfriend of yours is annoyin’ and this was the only way to get rid of him.”

                “Come on Lucy!” Mikki grabbed her hand, “let’s get ya home!”

                “Yeah!” she agreed with a smile.

                She should have known better.


	18. Of Course, Plans Rarely Go As Planned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay babes, this....is.....IT! The chapter I know people have been yelling at me about lmao of course. . .
> 
>  
> 
> Nothing goes as planned >:)
> 
> Enjoy *kisses*

~~~~Erza

                ‘My head…’ Erza thinks bitterly as the world slowly comes back into focus. Even almost two weeks after her accident she still has a dull ache at the base of her skull. Jellal was already gone which added an additional layer of stress to her head. The last couple of weeks have been rough. When Elfman and Wendy showed up with some guy named Droy it caused her more problems. Laxus and his group trotted on home with nearly 300 Joya monks all of them ready to fight. Then there was Juvia who managed to charm Mira’s former associate Hattori and now Magnolia is crawling with foreign agents from all corners of the peninsula.

                Needless to say, her government job was under even heavier strain. The only silver lining is that Natsu and Cana made a connection that also combats Twilight Ogre  _ and _ know Lucy Heartfilia. Now she just has to deal with creating a functioning army out of the spare parts they’ve managed to throw together. Her phone starts to ring from the nightstand. “Hello? Mira?” she yawned into the phone.

                “Erza…good, um so no big deal but—”

                “Yes big deal!” someone shouts behind her. It was that mysterious friend of Lucy’s that Laxus brought back from Joya as well. “Don’t you lie you demon woman!” Even over the phone, Erza could feel Mira’s irritation.

                “Mira, what’s wrong?”

                “Twilight Ogre is going to storm the capitol…” her voice got smaller and smaller. For a brief moment, Erza could have sworn her brain snapped in half.

                “When?” She was having an out of body experience. This could not be happening.

                “We have about twenty hours to prepare and be ready.”

                “Does the council know?”

                “Leo is sending them an anonymous tip.”

                “What does master say?”

                “It looks like we’re spending Christmas in the capital.” Mira sounded so tired, “Asuka-chan will stay with Lucy’s landlady, and she’s taken a real interest in the girl.” Erza did not have time for that terrible idea.

                “Alright I’ll see you in twenty,” and she hung up the phone. She allowed herself two seconds to freak out before pulling herself back together. There was a war to win.

~~~~Lucy

                “Are you sure?” she asked for the hundredth time. Erik snapped at her, but Angel thought it was cute.

                “Lucy I promise we’re gonna get ya home,” Mikki sighed from the front seat. “Now quit bitchin’ you’re makin’ my side hurt.”

                Lucy slumped down into the seat and huffed. Erik commandeered (stole) a car from a Knight. Lucy couldn’t seem to find it in her to reprimand him like when they were younger. Once upon a time, she was supposed to marry Erik to merge the families. But then Erik went on to be a troublemaker of the highest order and Angel was forced to step up and claim the title of heiress. Lucy could never understand how Angel was able to move from near obscurity to the spotlight without a single flaw, but she did it.

                When Erik called Levy last night it was when Natsu and Cana were on patrol. But Lucy got to talk to her friend for the first time in years. They were both excited to know that neither of them were dead. Lucy was surprised by how close Natsu came to finding her, the town he went to was only an hour away by car. Which is how she ended up in the backseat of a Knight’s (stolen) car.

                “’Bout fifteen minutes to go,” Erik drawls.

                Lucy couldn’t wait.

~~~~Natsu

                Natsu couldn’t wait. He was pissed that he missed her phone call yesterday. Today, of course, he couldn’t call her back because Levy had a million people to talk to and things to arrange. She sent the majority of her guild back to headquarters, Mira was constantly sending (and needing) updates, a few other guilds in this part of the peninsula were put on stand-by—it was never-ending.

                Cana wasn’t even drinking because of how nervous she was for this meet up. “What if she doesn’t want to go back?” she asked. Natsu ignored her because he didn’t want to think about that.

                ‘She’ll come home,’ he tried to reassure himself. ‘She’ll come home with me.’

                “Angel texted and said they’re ten minutes out,” Levy said as she walked back towards them. “Let’s head up. Jet hasn’t seen any Knights in a while so be careful.”

                “You too,” Cana responds before taking off. Levy went down another tunnel and for one moment Natsu stood still. He was finally going to see her again. The thought sent a flurry of butterflies alight in his stomach as he raced off towards the light.

~~~~Lucy

                Erik parked the car a little ways down from where the meet up was supposed to happen. “Jet texted that the Knights are on some weird rotation right now,” Angel cautions. “Be careful.”

                Lucy pulled her into a quick side hug in the backseat before hopping out of the car with Erik. Mikki moved over to take control of the vehicle and drives away.

                “Ready?” Erik holds out his arm for her to take.

                “Yes,” she whispered softly. She wrapped a scarf around her head to obscure her hair color and slipped on a pair of sunglasses from Angel. They walk out into the street and look like every other couple. Lucy stopped to admire a dress she didn’t care about and Erik pointed out a coffee shop asking if she was thirsty. It was all an act and Lucy was tired of pretending.

                The closer they got to the meeting point the quicker her heart raced. This was it, no more hiding or lying. Lucy didn’t have to run anymore, and that both thrilled and terrified her.

                A flash of pink caught her eye. She whipped her head around, ignoring Erik’s outburst.

                Pink.

                She looks the other way and steps away from Erik.

                Pink.

                She takes the glasses off her face and loosens the scarf, suddenly too hot.

                Pink. Pink. Pink.

                “Lucy,” she wanted to sob. Natsu, it was Natsu and he was saying her name like a prayer. She knew she needed to be excited about seeing the others, but Lucy couldn’t seem to look away. He looked so thin and the black smudges under his eyes told her of his nightmares. “Lucy,” he was saying her name and it felt like home. Tears fell hot and fast down her cheeks as she sprinted the last few feet. She barreled straight into his open arms and held on tight.

~~~~Natsu

                Levy was fidgeting next to Cana. Jet was across the street acting as a lookout and the other two Crown members were milling about acting as a patrol. Natsu was done waiting, “where the hell are they?”

                “Natsu stop,” Cana snapped at him. She was nervous and it made him antsy.

                Levy stood up straight suddenly and was scanning the crowd. “Erik?” she stands on her toes to look over people and repeated the name.

                Natsu decided to start walking the way she was looking. He dodged around people left and right, his heart started to beat quicker.

                The crowd was thinning out and Natsu stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. “Lucy,” he breathed out her name. She must have heard him because she turned to look right at him. She was too small and her eyes still held the fear he wanted to chase away. “Lucy,” he said it louder this time and it was like a veil had been lifted, so he could see all of her. She sprinted for him and he had his answer. ‘We’re going home,’ he thought joyfully as she crashed into him with a sob.

~~~~Lucy

                ‘He’s real, he’s real and he missed me,’ she thought as she continued to sob into his chest. Natsu held her tight and close. His words were muffled as he spoke into her hair, but she knew what he was saying. “Natsu,” the name that had haunted her every waking hour and the man it belonged to was finally here. “I-I…I’m so sorry!” she blubbered.

                “Lucy,” he said her name with reverence and it made her heart skip a beat. “What’s up?” he said lamely. Lucy bursts out laughing as the tears begin to ebb away.

                She props her chin on his chest to look up at him. “Super lame, Natsu,” he barely had a moment to make a retort before they were falling, falling, falling down. There was a gunshot that rang out in the street. Faintly Lucy could hear other people screaming, but the world was a blur. A strange and yet familiar warmth was spreading through her middle, but nothing hurt.

                “L…Luce…” Natsu’s voice was strangled. It was then that she realized what had happened.

                “Natsu!” she screamed and screamed his name. They crashed into the sidewalk with Lucy taking the brunt of the impact. Natsu was bleeding out quickly and Lucy couldn’t react in time. Someone grabbed her by her hair and the pain blinded her. She was thrown into a car and shut in. Whoever was driving peeled off like a bat out of hell while the other person was attempting to tie her up and gag her.

                “Merry Christmas,” an oily voice sneered. This was a nightmare.

                Finally able to turn around and get a solid kick in Lucy came face to face with her kidnapper. Jose, that disgusting, reprehensible, evil man glared at her while holding his side. Lucy growled at him and goes for her baton. Jose isn’t quick enough and she clubbed him in the face. She didn’t recognize the driver, but she smashed her baton into the back of his skull all the same. The car veers off the road and crashed into a storefront. All three of them go flying towards the windshield, but only the driver is buckled in.

                It was by some small blessing that Lucy’s cardigan got caught on the gear shift. Jose flew past her with rage-filled eyes and he crushed the windshield. The driver was slumped over and laying on the horn. Lucy unhooked herself and wiggled towards the back window. Part of it was blown out from the impact giving her the advantage to kick it out completely. Once cleared of glass she crawled through the space to freedom. Only when she was standing back out on the street in all the chaos and pandemonium did she realize what she had done.

                The internal panic manifested itself as hysterical laughter. She was just kidnapped, again, by her abuser of so many years. And she didn’t even flinch! Looking at the wreck of a car she laughed harder. “I should be dead,” she said with a shaky voice. It was how all of her worst nightmare ended after all—violent, bloody, and dead.

                “Yo…you bitch,” came the oily voice of Jose. “I’ll make you pay,” Lucy went around the car to find Jose pinned down. Blood was running down his face, his collarbone didn’t look right, and Lucy could see his foot was smashed between the car and store. He couldn’t walk let alone ‘make her pay’. Lucy barked out a harsh laugh.

                For the first time ever she could finally see Jose for what he really was. What a pathetic and cowardly piece of trash; Lucy snarled at him before spitting in his general direction. “This is the end Jose,” she growled. Behind her the fight that broke out ragged on. She could hear Cana and Erik yelling and a familiar feminine voice calling out commands. “I’m not alone anymore Jose,” the brand on her thigh burned, “and I’m never going back to that hell.”

                Jose started to laugh quietly before it became a full maniac, ugly thing. “Haven’t you heard?” His eyes are starting to glaze over, but his smile was unnerving. “This is only the beginning of the end. Don’t think I don’t know where you’ve been these past few months. Word spreads fast in the underworld.”

                “What are you talking about?” Lucy snapped at him. She desperately wanted to go find Natsu and help her friends, but he knew something.

                “I hope you enjoyed your time at Fairy Tail,” an icy feeling gripped Lucy’s heart at the words. As fear seized her, Lucy ran back to the fight.

                “Natsu!”

                Jose’s laughter chilled her very soul.

~~~~Erza

                “That’s your fourth cup,” Romeo commented.

                “Shut up kid. You tryin’ to get hit?” Gray scolds him before pushing the kid to the back of the plane. Erza ignored them both as the plane continued on its way to Crocus. It was too slow and the lazy clouds were making her angry for some reason. Leo knew a guy that owned planes and owed him a favor. Erza didn’t ask, she didn’t want to know. That’s how she ended up here in a first-class seat surrounded by her guild, monks, Gajeel, and an endless supply of coffee.

                The one called Aquarius was pacing the length of the plane. Her aquamarine hair was piled high up on her head and she was twirling a strand around her finger. Anyone that got too close almost had their head bitten off. There was still no word from Natsu or Cana.

                “Go somewhere else please,” the deceptively sweet voice of Mira told Gray and Romeo who were still fighting next to Erza.  They left without another word.

                “Thanks.”

                “You look awful.”

                “You look like a demon with that getup on,” they both stare at each other before bursting into laughter. Mira sat down next to Erza and put her head on her shoulder.

                “I want to go home,” she whispered.

                “Me too,” Erza admits. She looks over her friends’ head to survey the group, “we could parachute out?” They laughed again.

                “What happened to us? Didn’t we used to always be spoilin’ for a fight?”

                “Mhm…”

                “I can’t seem to find that bloodlust again.”

                “Ah, well we grew up didn’t we?” Erza said simply, “that underground shit we got caught up in could have killed us.”

                “Probably,” Mira agreed. They sit in comfortable silence and wait for war to arrive.

~~~~Gray

_ Where are u? _

                The text he sent hours ago was still unanswered. Natsu hasn’t even read it yet. Gray started to pace. Juvia watched with worn-out eyes. Hattori and the rest of his guild were on another plane. He seemed perfectly at ease with this whole thing. Everyone in Fairy Tail, on the other hand…not so much.

                “Why the fuck hasn’t he texted me back yet?” Gray yelled at no one in particular.

                “Gray-sama—”

                “What is goin’ on?” he continued to rant.

                “Gray-sa—”

                “I shouldn’t have left! He’s an idiot! Of course, he got into trouble!”

                “Gray!” Juvia snapped at him. Gray stopped pacing and looked at his girlfriend. “Come here,” she pats the seat next to her. It was authoritative and arrogant and turning him on, which was not the right mood for the moment. He shook his head in dismay and followed her orders to sit.  He sat down with a grunt and a sigh, Juvia snuggled into his side to rest her head on his chest. “I know you’re worried, I am, too,” she said softly. “But we can’t lose heart now, not right before a fight.”

                “Why hasn’t someone reached out though?”

                “Sometimes life gets in the way. Maybe this means they found her,” Juvia looked up at her boyfriend with hope. “I love you.”

                Gray was startled by her declaration, “w-what?”

                “I love you Gray-sama,” Juvia repeated without hesitation or fear.

                Gray pulled her into his lap and kissed her soundly. A few hoots were thrown at them, but Gray ignored them. Juvia pulled back for air, “I love you, too. And maybe this isn’t the right time or maybe it’s a perfect time,” he leaned their foreheads together. “But I love you, too Juvia.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes but did not fall. "Thank you."

                To war, these lovers will go.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think in the reviews! 
> 
> Thanks


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